CONSTITUTION7^, 


OF  THE 


AS  ADOPTED  IN 


CONVENTION, 


. 


of  Illinois, 


May  13th,  1870, 


AND 


Ratified  by  the  People  of  the  State, 


July  2d,  A.  D.  1870. 


CHICAGO : 

THE  WESTERN  NEWS  COMPANY, 

1 2i  and  123  State  Street. 

1870. 


II 


PRICE, 


23  CENTS. 


I 


l 


THE 


CONSTITUTION 

OF  THE 

State  of  Illinois, 

AS  ADOPTED  IN 

CONVENTION, 

May  13th,  1870, 


AND 


Ratified  by  the  People  of  the  State, 


July  2d,  A.  D.  1870. 


CHICAGO: 

THE  WESTERN  NEWS  COMPANY, 

1 21  and  123  State  Street. 

1870. 


JAMES  & BUTLER, 
Book  and  Job  Printers, 
BOOK  BINDERS, 

AND 

BLANK  BOOK  MANUFACTURERS, 

114  & 116  Wabash  Ave.,  Chicago,  III. 


a\<q=n 


^4X,772  / 
IJU 
i&vb*- 


THE  CONSTITUTION. 


PREAMBLE. 

We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois — grateful  to  Almighty  God 
for  the  civil,  political  and  religious  liberty  which  He  hath  so  long  permit- 
ted us  to  enjoy,  and  looking  to  Him  for  a blessing  upon  our  endeavors  to 
secure  and  transmit  the  same  unimpaired  to  succeeding  generations — in 
order  to  form  a more  perfect  government,  establish  justice,  insure  do- 
mestic tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity, 
do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  State  of  Illinois. 

ARTICLE  I. 

BOUNDARIES. 

The  boundaries  and  jurisdiction  of  the  State  shall  be  as  follows,  to 
' wit:  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  river,  thence  up  the  same, 
and  with  the  line  of  Indiana,  to  the  northwest  corner  of  said  State,  thence 
east  with  the  line  of  the  same  State,  to  the  middle  of  Lake  Michigan  ; 
thence  north  along  the  middle  of  said  lake,  to  north  latitude  forty-two 
£ degrees  and  thirty  minutes ; thence  west  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  thence  down  along  the  middle  of  that  river  to  its  confluence 
with  the  Ohio  river,  and  .thence  up  the  latter  river,  along  its  northwestern 
shore  to  the  place  of  beginning:  Provided , that  this  State  shall  exercise 
L such  jurisdiction  upon  the  Ohio  river,  as  she  is  now  entitled  to,  or  such 

- as  may  hereafter  be  agreed  upon  by  this  State  and  the  State  of  Kentucky. 

ARTICLE  II. 

BILL  OF  RIGHTS. 

Section  i.  All  men  are  by  nature  free  and  independent,  and  have 
certain  inherent  and  inalienable  rights— among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  To  secure  these  rights  and  the  protection  of 


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property,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

§ 2.  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property,  with- 
out due  process  of  law. 

§ 3.  The  free  exercise  and  enjoyment  of  religious  profession  and 
worship,  without  discrimination,  shall  forever  be  guaranteed ; and  no  per- 
son shall  be  denied  any  civil  or  political  right,  privilege  or  capacity,  on 
account  of  his  religious  opinions;  but  the  liberty  of  conscience  hereby 
secured  shall  not  be  construed  to  dispense  with  oaths  or  affirmations, 
excuse  acts  of  licentiousness,  or  justify  practices  inconsistent  with  the 
peace  or  safety  of  the  State.  No  person  shall  be  required  to  attend  or 
support  any  ministry  or  place  of  worship  against  his  consent,  nor  shall 
any  preference  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  denomination  or  mode  of 
worship. 

§ 4.  Every  person  may  freely  speak,  write  and  publish,  on  all  sub- 
jects, being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty;  and  in  all  trials  for 
libel,  both  civil'  and  criminal,  the  truth,  when  published  with  good 
motives  and  for  justifiable  ends,  shall  be  a sufficient  defence. 

§ 5.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  as  heretofore  enjoyed,  shall  remain 
inviolate;  but  the  trial  of  civil  cases  before  Justices  of  the  Peace  by  a jury 
of  less  than  twelve  men,  may  be  authorized  by  law. 

§ 6.  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall  not  be 
violated ; and  no  warrant  shall  issue  without  probable  cause,  supported  by 
affidavit,  particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons 
or  things  to  be  seized. 

§ 7.  All  persons  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  except  for 
capital  offences,  where  the  proof  is  evident  or  the  presumption  great ; and 
the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless 
when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may  require  it. 

§ 8.  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a criminal  offence,  unless 
on  indictment  of  a grand  jury,  except  in  cases  in  which  the  punishment  is 
by  fine,  or  imprisonment  otherwise  than  in  the  penitentiary,  in  cases  of 
impeachment,  and  in  cases  arising  in  the  army  and  navy,  or  in  the  militia 
when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  Provided , that 
the  Grand  Jury  may  be  abolished  by  law  in  all  cases. 


* 


a 


§ 9.  In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  h£ve  the  right 
to  appear  and  defend  in  person  and  by  counsel ; to  demand  the  nature 
and  cause  of  the  accusation,  and  to  have  a copy  thereof;  to  meet  the 
witnesses  face  to  face,  and.  to  have  process  to  compel  the  attendance  of 
witnesses  in  his  behalf,  and  a speedy  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of 
the  county  or  district  in  which  the  offence  is  alleged  to  have  been  com- 
mitted. 

§ 10.  No  person  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  give 
evidence  against  himself,  or  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  for  the  same  offence. 

§ 11.  All  penalties  shall  be  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  the 
offence,  and  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture 
of  estate;  nor  shall  any  person  be  transported  out  of  the  State  for  any 
offence  committed  within  the  same. 

§ 12.  No  person  shall  be  imprisoned  for  debt,  unless  upon  refusal 
to  deliver  up  his  estate  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors,  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law,  or  in  cases  where  there  is  strong  presumption 
of  fraud. 

§ 13.  Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  or  damaged  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation.  Such  compensation,  when  not  made  by  the 
State,  shall  be  ascertained  by  a jury,  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law.  The 
fee  of  land  taken  for  railroad  tracks,  without  consent  of  the  owners 
thereof,  shall  remain  in  such  owners,  subject  to  the  use  for  which  it  is 
taken. 

§ 14.  No  ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  con- 
tracts, or  making  any  irrevocable  grant  of  special  privileges  or  immuni- 
ties, shall  be  passed. 

§ 15.  The  military  shall  be  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil 

power. 

§ 16.  No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner;  nor  in  time  of  war  except  in  the  man- 
ner prescribed  by  law. 

§ 17.  The  people  have  the  right  to  assemble  in  a peaceable  manner 
to  consult  for  the  common  good,  to  make  known  their  opinions  to  their 
Representatives,  and  to  apply  for  redress  of  grievances. 

§ 18.  All  elections  shall  be  free  and  equal. 

§ 19.  Every  person  ought  to  find  a certain  remedy  in  the  laws  for 
all  injuries  and  wrongs  which  he  may  receive  in  his  person,  property  or 


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reputation ; he  ought  to  obtain,  by  law,  right  and  justice  freely  and  with- 
out being  obliged  to  purchase  it,  completely  and  without  denial,  promptly 
and  without  delay. 

§ 20.  A frequent  recurrence  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil 
government  is  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  the  blessings  of  liberty. 

ARTICLE  III. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  POWERS. 

The  powers  of  the  Government  of  this  State  are  divided  into  three 
distinct  departments — the  Legislative,  Executive  and  Judicial;  and  no 
person,  or  collection  of  persons,  being  one  of  these  departments,  shall 
exercise  any  power  properly  belonging  to  either  of  the  others,  except  as 
hereinafter  expressly  directed  or  permitted. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

LEGISLATIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  legislative  power  shall  be  vested  in  a General  As- 
sembly, which  shall  consist  of  a Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
both  to  be  elected  by  the  people. 

ELECTION. 

§ 2.  An  election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be 
held  on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  November,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  every  two 
years  thereafter,  in  each  county,  at  such  places  therein  as  may  be  provided 
by  law.  When  vacancies  occur  in  either  House,  the  Governor,  or  person 
exercising  the  powers  of  Governor,  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill 
such  vacancies. 


ELIGIBILITY  AND  OATH. 

§ 3.  No  person  shall  be  a Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years,  or  a Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  No  person  shall  be  a Senator  or  a Repre- 
sentative who  shall  not  be  a citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall 
not  have  been  for  five  years  a resident  of  this  State,  and  for  two  years 
next  preceding  his  election  a resident  within  the  territory  forming  the  dis- 
trict from  which  he  is  elected.  No  Judge  or  Clerk  of  any  Court,  Secre- 


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tary  of  State,  Attorney  General,  State’s  Attorney,  Recorder,  Sheriff,  or 
Collector  of  Public  Revenue,  member  of  either  House  of  Congress,  or 
person  holding  any  lucrative  office  under  the  United  States  or  this  State, 
or  any  foreign  government,  shall  have  a seat  in  the  General  Assembly: 
Provided , That  appointments  in  the  militia  and  the  offices  of  Notary 
Public  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  shall  not  be  considered  lucrative.  Nor 
shall  any  person  holding  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  under  any  foreign 
government,  or  under  the  government  of  the  United  States  (except  Post- 
masters whose  annual  compensation  does  not  exceed  the  sum  of  three 
hundred  dollars),  hold  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  under  the  authority 
of  this  State. 

§ 4.  No  person  who  has  been,  or  hereafter  shall  be,  convicted  of 
bribery,  perjury,  or  other  infamous  crime,  nor  any  person  who  has  been 
or  may  be  a collector  or  holder  of  public  moneys,  who  shall  not  have 
accounted  for  and  paid  over,  according  to  law,  all  such  moneys  due  from 
him,  shall  be  eligible  to  the  General  Assembly,  or  to  any  office  of  profit 
or  trust  in  this  State. 

§ 5.  Members  of  the  General  Assembly,  before  they  enter  upon 
their  official  duties,  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  following  oath  or  affirma- 
tion: “I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I will  support  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  Senator  (or  Representative) 
according  to  the  best  of  my  ability;  and  that  I have  not,  knowingly  or 
intentionally,  paid  or  contributed  anything,  or  made  any  promise  in  the 
nature  of  a bribe,  to  directly  or  indirectly  influence  any  vote  at  the  elec- 
tion at  which  I was  chosen  to  fill  the  said  office,  and  have  not  accepted, 
nor'’  will  I accept  or  receive,  directly  or  indirectly,  any  money  or  other 
valuable  thing,  from  any  corporation,  company  or  person,  for  any  vote  or 
influence  I may  give  or  withhold  on  any  bill,  resolution  or  appropriation, 
or  for  any  other  official  act.”  This  oath  shall  be  administered  by  a Judge 
of  the  Supreme  or  Circuit  Court  in  the  Hall  of  the  House  to  which  the 
member  is  elected,  and  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  record  and  file  the  oath 
subscribed  by  each  member.  Any  member  who  shall  refuse  to  take  the 
oath  herein  prescribed  shall  forfeit  his  office,  and  every  member  who 
shall  be  convicted  of  having  sworn  falsely  to,  or  of  violating  his  said 
oath,  shall  forfeit  his  office  and  be  disqualified  thereafter  from  holding 
any  office  of  profit  or  trust  in  this  State. 


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APPORTIONMENT. 

SENATORIAL. 

§ 6.  The  General  Assembly  shall  apportion  the  State  every  ten 
years,  beginning  with  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy- 
one,  by  dividing  the  population  of  the  State,  as  ascertained  by  the  federal 
census,  by  the  number  fifty-one,  and  the  quotient  shall  be  the  ratio  of 
representation  in  the  Senate.  The  State  shall  be  divided  into  fifty-one 
Senatorial  Districts,  each  of  which  shall  elect  one  Senator,  whose  term  of 
office  shall  be  four  years.  The  Senators  elected  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two  in  districts  bearing  odd 
numbers,  shall  vacate  their  offices  at  the  end  of  two  years,  and  those 
elected  in  districts  bearing  even  numbers  at  the  end  of  four  years;  and 
vacancies  occurring  by  the  expiration  of  term  shall  be  filled  by  the 
election  of  Senators  for  the  full  term.  Senatorial  Districts  shall  be 
formed  of  contiguous  and  compact  territory,  bounded  by  county  lines, 
and  contain  as  nearly  as  practicable  an  equal  number  of  inhabitants ; but 
no  district  shall  contain  less  than  four-fifths  of  the  Senatorial  ratio.  Coun- 
ties containing  not  less  than  the  ratio  and  three-fourths,  may  be  divided 
into  separate  districts,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  two  Senators,  and  to  one 
additional  Senator  for  each  number  of  inhabitants  equal  to  the  ratio  con- 
tained by  such  counties  in  excess  of  twice  the  number  of  said  ratio. 

REPRESENTATIVE. 

§ 7.  The  population  of  the  State,  as  ascertained  by  the  federal  cen- 
sus, shall  be  divided  by  the  number  one  hundred  and  fifty-three,  and  the 
quotient  shall  be  the  ratio  of  representation  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. Every  county  or  district  shall  be  entitled  to  one  representative, 
when  its  population  is  three-fifths  of  the  ratio ; if  any  county  has  less  than 
three-fifths  of  the  ratio  it  shall  be  attached  to  the  adjoining  county  having 
the  least  population,  to  which  no  other  county  has  for  the  same  reason 
been  attached,  and  the  two  shall  constitute  a separate  district.  Every 
county  or  district  having  a population  not  less  than  the  ratio  and  three- 
fifths  shall  be  entitled  to  two  Representatives,  and  for  each  additional 
number  of  inhabitants  equal  to  the  ratio,  one  Representative.  Counties 
having  over  two  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  may  be  divided  into 
districts,  each  entitled  to  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  Repre- 
sentatives. After  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty,  the 
whole  population  shall  be  divided  by  the  number  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
nine,  and  the  quotient  shall  be  the  ratio  of  representation  in  the  House  of 


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Representatives  for  the  ensuing  ten  years,  and  six  additional  Representa- 
tives shall  be  added  for  every  five  hundred  thousand  increase  of  population 
at  each  decennial  census  thereafter,  and  be  apportioned  in  the  same 
manner  as  above  provided. 

§ 8.  When  a county  or  district  shall  have  a fraction  of  population 
above  what  shall  entitle  it  to  one  Representative,  or  more,  according  to 
the  provisions  of  the  foregoing  section,  amounting  to  one-fifth  of  the 
ratio,  it  shall  be  entitled  to  one  additional  Representative  in  the  fifth 
term  of  each  decennial  period;  when  such  fraction  is  two-fifths  of  the 
ratio,  it  shall  be  entitled  to  an  additional  Representative  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  terms  of  said  periods ; when  the  fraction  is  three-fifths  of  the  ratio,  it 
shall  be  entitled  to  an  additional  Representative  in  the  first,  second  and 
third  terms,  respectively;  when  the  fraction  is  four-fifths  of  the  ratio,  it 
shall  be  entitled  to  an  additional  Representative  in  the  first,  second,  third 
and  fourth  terms,  respectively. 

TIME  OF  MEETING  AND  GENERAL  RULES. 

§ 9.  The  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  commence  at  twelve 
o’clock  noon,  on  the  Wednesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  in  January, 
in  the  year  next  ensuing  the  election  of  members  thereof,  and  at  no  other 
time,  unless  as  provided  by  this  Constitution.  A majority  of  the  members 
elected  to  each  House  shall  constitute  a quorum.  Each  House  shall 
determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  and  be  the  judge  of  the  election, 
returns  and  qualifications  of  its  members;  shall  choose  its  own  officers; 
and  the  Senate  shall  choose  a temporary  President  to  preside  when  the 
Lieutenant  Governor  shall  not  attend  as  President  or  shall  act  as  Governor. 
The  Secretary  of  State  shall  call  the  House  of  Representatives  to  order  at 
the  opening  of  each  new  Assembly,  and  preside  over  it  until  a temporary 
presiding  officer  thereof  shall  have  been  chosen  and  shall  have  taken  his 
/ seat.  No  member  shall  be  expelled  by  either  House,  except  by  a vote  of 
two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected  to  that  House,  and  no  member  shall 
be  twice  expelled  for  the  same  offence.  Each  House  may  punish  by  im- 
prisonment any  person,  not  a member,  who  shall  be  guilty  of  disrespect 
to  the  House  by  disorderly  or  contemptuous  behavior  in  its  presence. 
But  no  such  imprisonment  shall  extend  beyond  twenty-four  hours,  at  one 
time,  unless  the  person  shall  persist  in  such  disorderly  or  contemptuous 
behavior. 

§ 10.  The  doors  of  each  House  and  of  Committees  of  the  Whole 
shall  be  kept  open,  except  in  such  cases  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the  House, 


8 


require  secrecy.  Neither  House  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  other, 
adjourn  for  more  than  two  days,  or  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which 
the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting.  Each  House  shall  keep  a journal  of  its 
proceedings,  which  shall  be  published.  In  the  Senate  at  the  request  of 
two  members,  and  in  the  House  at  the  request  of  five  members,  the  yeas 
and  nays  shall  be  taken  on  any  question,  and  entered  upon  the  journal. 
Any  two  members  of  either  House  shall  have  liberty  to  dissent  from,  and 
protest,  in  respectful  language,  against  any  act  or  resolution  which  they 
think  injurious  to  the  public  or  to  any  individual,  and  have  the  reasons  of 
their  dissent  entered  upon  the  journals. 

STYLE  OF  LAWS,  AND  PASSAGE  OF  BILLS. 

.§  ii.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  this  State  shall  be:  “ Be  it  enacted  by 
the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois  represented  in  the  General  Assembly.” 

§ 12.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  House,  but  may  be  altered, 
amended  or  rejected  by  the  other;  and  on  the  final  passage  of  all  bills, 
the  vote  shall  be  by  yeas  and  nays,  upon  each  bill  separately,  and  shall  be 
entered  upon  the  journal ; and  no  bill  shall  become  a law  without  the 
concurrence  of  a majority  of  the  members  elected  to  each  House. 

§ 13.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  at  large  on  three  different  days,  in 
each  House;  and  the  bill  and  all  amendments  thereto  shall  be  printed 
before  the  vote  is  taken  on  its  final  passage ; and  every  bill,  having  passed 
both  Houses,  shall  be  signed  by  the  Speakers  thereof.  No  act  hereafter 
passed  shall  embrace  more  than  one  subject,  and  that  shall  be  expressed 
in  the  title.  But  if  any  subject  shall  be  embraced  in  an  act  which  shall 
not  be  expressed  in  the  title,  such  act  shall  be  void  only  as  to  so  much 
thereof  as  shall  not  be  so  expressed;  and  no  law  shall  be  revived  or 
amended  by  reference  to  its  title  only,  but  the  law  revived  or  the  section 
amended  shall  be  insetted  at  length  in  the  new  act.  And  no  act  of  the 
General  Assembly  shall  take  effect  until  the  first  day  of  July  next  after  its 
passage,  unless  in  case  of  emergency  (which  emergency  shall  be  expressed 
in  the  preamble  or  body  of  the  act),  the  General  Assembly  shall,  by  a 
vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  House,  otherwise 
direct. 


PRIVILEGES  AND  DISABILITIES. 

§ 14.  Senators  and  Representatives  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason, 
felony  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the  session 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same; 


9 


and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned 
in  any  other  place. 

§ 15.  No  person  elected  to  the  General  Assembly  shall  receive  any 
civil  appointment  within  this  State  from  the  Governor,  the  Governor  and 
Senate,  or  from  the  General  Assembly,  during  the  term  for  which  he  shall 
have  been  elected ; and  all  such  appointments,  and  all  votes  given  for  any 
such  members  for  any  such  office  or  appointment,  shall  be  void ; nor  shall 
any  member  of  the  General  Assembly  be  interested,  either  directly  or  in- 
directly, in  any  contract  with  the  State,  or  any  county  thereof,  authorized 
by  any  law  passed  during  the  term  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected, 
or  within  one  year  after  the  expiration  thereof. 

PUBLIC  MONEYS  AND  APPROPRIATIONS. 

§ 16.  The  General  Assembly  shall  make  no  appropriation  of  money 
out  of  the  Treasury  in  any  private  law.  Bills  making  appropriations  for 
the  pay  of  members  and  officers  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  for  the 
salaries  of  the  officers  of  the  Government,  shall  contain  no  provision  on 
any  other  subject. 

§ 17.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury  except  in  pursu- 
ance of  an  appropriation  made  by  law,  and  on  the  presentation  of  a war- 
rant issued  by  the  Auditor  thereon;  and  no  money  shall  be  diverted  from 
any  appropriation  made  for  any  purpose,  or  taken  from  any  fund  whatever, 
either  by  joint  or  separate  resolution.  The  Auditor  shall,  within  sixty 
days  after  the  adjournment  of  each  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  pre- 
pare and  publish  a full  statement  of  all  money  expended  at  such  session, 
specifying  the  amount  of  each  item,  and  to  whom  and  for  what  paid. 

§ 18.  Each  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  all  the  appropriations 
necessary  for  the  ordinary  and  contingent  expenses  of  the  Government 
until  the  expiration  of  the  first  fiscal  quarter  after  the  adjournment  of  the 
next  regular  session,  the  aggregate  amount  of  which  shall  not  be  increased 
without  a vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  to  each  house,  nor 
exceed  the  amount  of  revenue  authorized  by  law  to  be  raised  in  such  time ; 
and  all  appropriations,  general  or  special,  requiring  money  to  be  paid  out 
of  the  State  treasury,  from  funds  belonging  to  the  State,  shall  end  with 
such  fiscal  quarter:  Provided , the  State  may,  to  meet  casual  deficits  or 
failures  in  revenues,  contract  debts,  never  to  exceed  in  the  aggregate  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars;  and  moneys  thus  borrowed  shall  be 
applied  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  obtained,  or  to  pay  the  debt 
thus  created,  and  to  no  other  purpose ; and  no  other  debt,  except  for  the 


2 


10 


purpose  of  repelling  invasion,  suppressing  insurrection,  or  defending  the 
State  in  war,  (for  payment  of  which  the  faith  of  the  State  shall  be  pledged), 
shall  be  contracted,  unless  the  law  authorizing  the  same  shall,  at  a general 
election,  have  been  submitted  to  the  people,  and  have  received  a majority 
of  the  votes  cast  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  at  such  election. 
The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the  publication  of  said  law,  for 
three  months,  at  least,  before  the  vote  of  the  people  shall  be  taken  upon 
the  same ; and  provisions  shall  be  made  at  the  time,  for  the  payment  of 
the  interest  annually,  as  it  shall  accrue,  by  a tax  levied  for  the  purpose,  or 
from  other  sources  of  revenue ; which  law,  providing  for  the  payment  of 
such  interest  by  such  tax,  shall  be  irrepealable  until  such  debt  be  paid : 
And  Provided,  further,  that  the  law  levying  the  tax  shall  be  submitted  to 
the  people  with  the  law  authorizing  the  debt  to  be  contracted. 

§ 19.  The  General  Assembly  shall  never  grant  or  authorize  extra 
compensation,  fee  or  allowance  to  any  public  officer,  agent,  servant  or 
contractor,  after  service  has  been  rendered  or  a contract  made,  nor 
authorize  the  payment  of  any  claim,  or*  part  thereof,  hereafter  created 
against  the  State  under  any  agreement  or  contract  made  without  express 
authority  of  law;  and  all  such  unauthorized  agreements  or  contracts  shall 
be  null  and  void : Provided,  the  General  Assembly  may  make  appropria- 
tions for  expenditures  incurred  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  repelling 
invasion. 

§ 20.  The  State  shall  never  pay,  assume,  or  become  responsible  for 
the  debts  or  liabilities  of,  or  in  any  manner  give,  loan  or  extend  its  credit 
to  or  in  aid  of  any  public  or  other  corporation,  association  or  individual. 

PAY  OF  MEMBERS. 

§ 21.  The  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  receive  for  their 
services  the  sum  of  five  dollars  per  day,  during  the  first  session  held  under 
this  Constitution,  and  ten  cents  for  each  mile  necessarily  travelled  in 
going  to  and  returning  from  the  seat  of  government,  to  be  computed  by 
the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  and  thereafter  such  compensation  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law,  and  no  other  allowance  or  emolument,  directly 
or  indirectly,  for  any  purpose  whatever,  except  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars 
per  session  to  each  member,  which  shall  be  in  full  for  postage,  stationery, 
newspapers,  and  all  other  incidental  expenses  and  perquisites;  but  no 
change  shall  be  made  in  the  compensation  of  members  of  the  General 
Assembly  during  the  term  for  which  they  may  have  been  elected.  The  pay 
and  mileage  allowed  to  each  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be 


11 


certified  by  the  Speakers  of  their  respective  Houses,  and  entered  on  the 
journals,  and  published  at  the  close  of  each  session. 

SPECIAL  LEGISLATION  PROHIBITED. 

§ 22.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  pass  local  or  special  laws  in 
any  of  the  following  enumerated  cases,  that  is  to  say:  for 

Granting  Divorces; 

Changing  the  names  of  persons  or  places ; 

Laying  out,  opening,  altering  and  working  roads  or  highways ; 

Vacating  roads,  town  plats,  streets,  alleys,  and  public  grounds ; 

Locating  or  changing  county  seats ; 

Regulating  county  and  township  affairs;  * 

Regulating  the  practice  in  Courts  of  Justice; 

Regulating  the  jurisdiction  and  duties  of  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Po- 
lice Magistrates  and  Constables ; 

Providing  for  changes  of  venue  in  civil  and  criminal  cases; 

Incorporating  cities,  towns  or  villages,  or  changing  or  amending  the 
charter  of  any  town,  city  or  village ; 

Providing  for  the  election  of  members  of  the  Board  of  Supervisors 
in  townships,  incorporated  towns  or  cities; 

Summoning  and  impanelling  grand  or  petit  juries; 

Providing  for  the  management  of  common  schools; 

Regulating  the  rate  of  interest  on  money ; 

The  opening  and  conducting  of  any  election,  or  designating  the 
place  of  voting; 

The  sale  or  mortgage  of  real  estate  belonging  to  minors  or  others 
under  disability; 

The  protection  of  game  or  fish; 

Chartering  or  licensing  ferries  or  toll  bridges ; 

Remitting  fines,  penalties  or  forfeitures; 

Creating,  increasing  or  decreasing  fees,  percentage  or  allowances 
of  public  officers,  during  the  term  for  which  said  officers  are  elected  or 
appointed ; 

Changing  the  law  of  descent; 

Granting  to  any  corporation,  association  or  individual  the  right  to 
lay  down  railroad  tracks,  or  amending  existing  charters  for  such  purpose ; 


12 


Granting  to  any  corporation,  association  or  individual  any  special  or 
exclusive  privilege,  immunity  or  franchise  whatever. 

In  all  other  cases  where  a general  law  can  be  made  applicable,  no 
special  law  shall  be  enacted. 

§ 23.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  release  or  ex- 
tinguish, in  whole  or  in  part,  the  indebtedness,  liability  or  obligation  of 
any  corporation  or  individual  to  this  State,  or  to  any  municipal  corpora- 
tion therein. 

IMPEACHMENT. 

§ 24.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of 
impeachment;  but  a majority  of  all  the  members  elected  must  concur 
therein.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate;  and  when  sit- 
ting for  that  purpose,  the  Senators  shall  be  upon  oath,  or  affirmation,  to 
do  justice  according  to  law  and  evidence.  When  the  Governor  of  the 
State  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside.  No  person  shall  be  con- 
victed without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  elected. 
But  judgment  in  such  cases  shall  not  extend  further  than  removal  from 
office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  any  office  of  honor,  profit  or  trust 
under  the  government  of  this  State.  The  party,  whether  convicted  or 
acquitted,  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  prosecution,  trial,  judgment  and 
punishment  according  to  law. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

§ 25.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  that  the  fuel, 
stationery,  and  printing  paper  furnished  for  the  use  of  the  State,  the 
copying,  printing,  binding  and  distributing  the  laws  and  journals,  and  all 
other  printing  ordered  by  the  General  Assembly,  shall  be  let  by  contract 
to  the  lowest  responsible  bidder ; but  the  General  Assembly  shall  fix  a 
maximum  price,  and  no  member  thereof  or  other  officer  of  the  State  shall 
be  interested,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  such  contract.  But  all  such  con- 
tracts shall  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Governor,  and  if  he  disap- 
prove the  same,  there  shall  be  a re-letting  of  the  contract  in  such  manner 
as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

§ 26.  The  State  of  Illinois  shall  never  be  made  defendant  in  any 
court  of  law  or  equity. 

§ 27.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  authorize  lot- 
teries or  gift  enterprises,  for  any  purpose,  and  shall  pass  laws  to  prohibit 
the  sale  of  lottery  or  gift  enterprise  tickets  in  this  State. 


13 


§ 28.  No  law  shall  be  passed  which  shall  operate  to  extend  the  term 
of  any  public  officer  after  his  election  or  appointment. 

§ 29.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  pass  such 
laws  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of  operative  miners,  by  pro- 
viding for  ventilation,  when  the  same  may  be  required,  and  the  construc- 
tion of  escapement-shafts  or  such  other  appliances  as  may  secure  safety 
in  all  coal  mines,  and  to  provide  for  the  enforcement  of  said  laws  by  such 
penalties  and  punishments  as  may  be  deemed  proper. 

§ 30.  The  General  Assembly  may  provide  for  establishing  and 
opening  roads  and  cartways,  connected  with  a public  road,  for  private 
and  public  use. 

§ 31.  The  General  Assembly  may  pass  laws  permitting  the  owners 
or  occupants  of  lands  to  construct  drains  and  ditches,  for  agricultural  and 
sanitary  purposes,  across  the  lands  of  others. 

§ 32.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  liberal  homestead  and 
exemption  laws. 

§ 33.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  appropriate  out  of  the  State 
Treasury,  or  expend  on  account  of  the  new  Capitol  Grounds,  and  con- 
struction, completion,  and  furnishing  of  the  State  House,  a sum  exceed- 
ing, in  the  aggregate,  three  and  a half  millions  of  dollars,  inclusive  of 
all  appropriations  heretofore  made,  without  first  submitting  the  proposition 
for  an  additional  expenditure  to  the  legal  voters  of  the  State,  at  a general 
election,  nor  unless  a majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  such  election  shall 
be  for  the  proposed  additional  expenditure. 


ARTICLE  V. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i . The  Executive  Department  shall  consist  of  a Governor, 
Lieutenant  Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts, 
Treasurer,  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  Attorney  General, 
who  shall  each,  with  the  exception  of  the  Treasurer,  hold  his  office  for 
the  term  of  four  years  from  the  second  Monday  of  January  next  after  his 
election,  and  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified.  They  shall, 
except  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  reside  at  the  seat  of  government  during 
their  term  of  office,  and  keep  the  public  records,  books  and  papers  there, 
and  shall  perform  such  duties  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 


14 


§ 2.  The  Treasurer  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  two  years, 
and  until  his  successor  is  elected  and  qualified,  and  shall  be  ineligible  to 
said  office  for  two  years  next  after  the  end  of  the  term  for  which  he  was 
elected.  He  may  be  required  by  the  Governor  to  give  reasonable  addi- 
tional security,  and  in  default  of  so  doing  his  office  shall  be  deemed 
vacant. 


ELECTION. 

§ 3.  An  election  for  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor,  Secretary  of 
State,  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  and  Attorney  General,  shall  be  held 
on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  first  Monday  of  November,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  every  four 
years  thereafter ; for  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  on  the  Tuesday 
next  after  the  first  Monday  of  November,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy,  and  every  four  years  thereafter,  and  for  Treasurer 
on  the  day  last  above  mentioned,  and  every  two  years  thereafter,  at  such 
places  and  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

§ 4.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  the  above  named  officers  shall 
be  sealed  up  and  transmitted,  by  the  returning  officers,  to  the  Secretary 
of  State,  directed  to  “The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,” 
who  shall,  immediately  after  the  organization  of  the  House,  and  before 
proceeding  to  other  business,  open  and  publish  the  same  in  the  presence 
of  a majority  of  each  House  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall,  for  that 
purpose,  assemble  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  The 
person  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  for  either  of  said  offices  shall 
be  declared  duly  elected  ; but  if  two  or  more  have  an  equal,  and  the 
highest  number  of  votes,  the  General  Assembly  shall,  by  joint  ballot, 
choose  one  of  such  persons  for  said  office.  Contested  elections  for  all  of 
said  offices  shall  be  determined  by  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly, 
by  joint  ballot,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ELIGIBILITY. 

§ 5.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Governor  or 
Lieutenant  Governor,  who  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty  years 
and  been  for  five  years  next  preceding  his  election  a citizen  of  the  United 
States  and  of  this  State.  Neither  the  Governor,  Lieutenant  Governor, 
Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Secretary  of  State,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  nor  Attorney  General  shall  be  eligible  to  any  other  office 
during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected. 


15 


GOVERNOR. 

§ 6.  The  supreme  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  the  Governor, 
who  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed. 

§ 7.  The  Governor,  shall,  at  the  commencement  of  each  session, 
and  at  the  close  of  his  term  of  office,  give  to  the  General  Assembly 
information,  by  message,  of  the  condition  of  the  State,  and  shall 
recommend  such  measures  as  he  shall  deem  expedient.  He  shall  account 
to  the  General  Assembly,  and  accompany  his  message  with  a statement 
of  all  moneys  received  and  paid  out  by  him  from  any  funds  subject  to 
his  order,  with  vouchers,  and,  at  the  commencement  of  each  regular 
session,  present  estimates  of  the  amount  of  money  required  to  be  raised 
by  taxation  for  all  purposes. 

§ 8.  The  Governor  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the 
General  Assembly,  by  proclamation,  stating  therein  the  purpose  for  which 
they  are  convened ; and  the  General  Assembly  shall  enter  upon  no 
business  except  that  for  which  they  were  called  together. 

§ 9.  In  case  of  a disagreement  between  the  two  Houses  with 
respect  to  the  time  of  adjournment,  the  Governor  may,  on  the  same 
being  certified  to  him  by  the  House  first  moving  the  adjournment,  adjourn 
the  General  Assembly  to  such  time  as  he  thinks  proper,  not  beyond  the 
first  day  of  the  next  regular  session. 

§ 10.  The  Governor  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate  (a  majority  of  all  the  Senators  elected  concur- 
ring, by  yeas  and  nays),  appoint  all  officers  whose  offices  are  established 
by  this  Constitution,  or  which  may  be  created  by  law,  and  whose  appoint- 
ment or  election  is  not  otherwise  provided  for ; and  no  such  officer  shall 
be  appointed  or  elected  by  the  General  Assembly. 

§ 11.  In  case  of  a vacancy,  during  a recess  of  the  Senate,  in  any 
office  which  is  not  elective,  the  Governor  shall  make  a temporary  appoint- 
ment until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Senate,  when  he  shall  nominate  some 
person  to  fill  such  office : and  any  person  so  nominated,  who  is  confirmed 
by  the  Senate  (a  majority  of  all  the  Senators  elected  concurring,  by  yeas 
and  nays),  shall  hold  his  office  during  the  remainder  of  the  term,  and 
until  his  successor  shall  be  appointed  and  qualified.  No  person,  after 
being  rejected  by  the  Senate,  shall  be  again  nominated  for  the  same  office 


16 


at  the  same  session,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  Senate,  or  be  appointed 
to  the  same  office  during  the  recess  of  the  General  Assembly. 

§ 12.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  remove  any  officer  whom 
he  may  appoint,  in  case  of  incompetency,  neglect  of  duty,  or 
malfeasance  in  office ; and  he  may  declare  his  office  vacant,  and  fill  the 
same  as  is  herein  provided  in  other  cases  of  vacancy. 

§ 13.  The  Governor  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves,  commu- 
tations and  pardons,  after  conviction,  for  all  offences,  subject  to  such 
regulations  as  may  be  provided  by  law  relative  to  the  manner  of  applying 
therefor. 


§ 14.  The  Governor  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  military 
and  naval  forces  of  the  State  (except  when  they  shall  be  called  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States);  and  may  call  out  the  same  to  execute  the 
laws,  suppress  insurrection,  and  repel  invasion. 

§ 15.  The  Governor  and  all  civil  officers  of  the  State  shall  be  liable 
to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office. 

VETO. 

§ 16.  Every  bill  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  shall,  before  it 
becomes  a law,  be  presented  to  the  Governor.  If  he  approve,  he  shall 
sign  it,  and  thereupon  it  shall  become  a law ; but  if  he  do  not  approve, 
he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections,  to  the  House  in  which  it  shall  have 
originated,  which  House  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  upon  its  journal, 
and  proceed  to  reconsider  the  bill.  If,  then,  two-thirds  of  the  members 
elected  agree  to  pass  the  same,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to 
the  other  House,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved 
by  two-thirds  of  the  members  elected  to  that  House,  it  shall  become  a 
law,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  Governor.  But  in  all  such  cases, 
the  vote  of  each  House  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  to  be  entered  on 
the  journal.  Any  bill  which  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  Governor  within 
ten  days  (Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him, 
shall  become  a law  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  General 
Assembly  shall,  by  their  adjournment,  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it 
shall  be  filed,  with  his  objections,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State, 
within  ten  days  after  such  adjournment,  or  become  a law. 


17 


LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR. 

§ 17.  In  case  of  the  death,  conviction  on  impeachment,  failure  to 
qualify,  resignation,  absence  from  the  State,  or  other  disability  of  the 
Governor,  the  powers,  duties  and  emoluments  of  the  office  for  the  residue 
of  the  term,  or  until  the  disability  shall  be  removed,  shall  devolve  upon 
the  Lieutenant  Governor. 

§ 18.  The  Lieutenant  Governor  shall  be  President  of  the  Senate, 
and  shall  vote  only  when  the  Senate  is  equally  divided.  The  Senate  shall 
choose  a President,  pro  tempore , to  preside  in  case  of  the  absence  or 
impeachment  of  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  or  when  he  shall  hold  the  office 
of  Governor. 

§ 19.  If  there  be  no  Lieutenant  Governor,  or  if  the  Lieutenant  Gov- 
ernor shall,  for  any  of  the  causes  specified  in  section  seventeen  of  this 
article,  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties  of  the  office,  the 
President  of  the  Senate  shall  act  as  Governor  until  the  vacancy  is  filled 
or  the  disability  removed;  and  if  the  President  of  the  Senate,  for  any  of 
the  above  named  causes,  shall  become  incapable  of  performing  the  duties 
of  Governor,  the  same  shall  devolve  upon  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives. 

OTHER  STATE  OFFICERS. 

§ 20.  If  the  office  of  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  Treasurer,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  Attorney  General  or  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 
shall  be  vacated  by  death,  resignation  or  otherwise,  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Governor  to  fill  the  same  by  appointment,  and  the  appointee  shall 
hold  his  office  until  his  successor  shall  be  elected  and  qualified  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law.  An  account  shall  be  kept  by  the 
officers  of  the  Executive  Department,  and  of  all  the  public  institutions  of 
the  State,  of  all  moneys  received  or  disbursed  by  them,  severally,  from 
all  sources  and  for  every  service  performed,  and  a semi-annual  report 
thereof  be  made  to  the  Governor,  under  oath ; and  any  officer  who  makes 
a false  report  shall  be  guilty  of  perjury  and  punished  accordingly. 

§ 21.  The  officers  of  the  Executive  Department,  and  of  all  the 
public  institutions  of  the  State,  shall,  at  least  ten  days  preceding  each 
regular  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  severally  report  to  the  Governor, 
who  shall  transmit  such  report  to  the  General  Assembly,  together  with 
the  reports  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  defects  in  the  Consti- 
tution and  laws ; and  the  Governor  may  at  any  time  require  information 
in  writing,  under  oath,  from  the  officers  of  the  Executive  Department 
3 


18 


and  all  officers  and  managers  of  State  institutions,  upon  any  subject  relating 
to  the  condition,  management  and  expenses  of  their  respective  offices. 

THE  SEAL  OF  STATE. 

§ 22.  There  shall  be  a seal  of  the  State,  which  shall  be  called  the 
“Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Illinois,’ ’ which  shall  be  kept  by  the  Secretary 
of  State,  and  used  by  him,  officially,  as  directed  by  law. 

FEES  AND  SALARIES. 

§ 23.  The  officers  named  in  this  article  shall  receive  for  their  services 
a salary,  to  be  established  by  law,  which  shall  not  be  increased  or  dimin- 
ished during  their  official  terms,  and  they  shall  not,  after  the  expiration 
of  the  terms  of  those  in  office  at  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  receive 
to  their  own  use  any  fees,  costs,  perquisites  of  office,  or  other  compen- 
sation. And  all  fees  that  may  hereafter  be  payable  by  law  for  any  services 
performed  by  any  officer  provided  for  in  this  article  of  the  Constitution, 
shall  be  paid  in  advance  into  the  State  Treasury. 

DEFINITION  AND  OATH  OF  OFFICE. 

§ 24.  An  office  is  a public  position,  created  by  the  Constitution  or 
law,  continuing  during  the  pleasure  of  the  appointing  power,  or  for  a 
fixed  time,  with  a successor  elected  or  appointed.  An  employment  is  an 
agency,  for  a temporary  purpose,  which  ceases  when  that  purpose  is  accom- 
plished. 

§ 25.  All  civil  officers,  except  members  of  the  General  Assembly 
and  such  inferior  officers  as  may  be  by  law  exempted,  shall,  before  they 
enter  on  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  take  and  subscribe  the  fol- 
lowing oath  or  affirmation  : 

“ I do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm,  as  the  case  may  be)  that  I will  sup- 
port the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Constitution  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  that  I will  faithfully  discharge  the  duties  of  the 
office  of according  to  the  best  of  my  ability.” 

And  no  other  oath,  declaration  or  test  shall  be  required  as  a qualifi- 
cation. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

JUDICIAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Section  i.  The  judicial  powers,  except  as  in  this  article  is  otherwise 
provided,  shall  be  vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  Circuit  Courts,  County 
Courts,  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Police  Magistrates,  and  in  such  courts  as 
may  be  created  by  law  in  and  for  cities  and  incorporated  towns. 


19 


SUPREME  COURT. 


§ 2.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  seven  judges,  and  shall 
have  original  jurisdiction  in  cases  relating  to  the  revenue,  in  mandamus 
and  habeas  corpus , and  appellate  jurisdiction  in  all  other  cases.  One  of 
said  judges  shall  be  Chief  Justice ; four  shall  constitute  a quorum,  and 
the  concurrence  of  four  shall  be  necessary  to  every  decision. 


§ 3.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  unless  he  shall  be  at  least  thirty  years  of  age  and  a citizen  of  the 
United  States,  nor  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in  this  State  five  years 
next  preceding  his  election,  and  be  a resident  of  the  district  in  which  he 
shall  be  elected. 


§ 4.  Terms  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  continue  to  be  held  in  the 
present  grand  divisions  at  the  several  places  now  provided  for  holding  the 
same ; and  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  one  or  more  terms  of  said 
court  shall  be  held,  for  the  Northern  division,  in  the  city  of  Chicago, 
each  year,  at  such  times  as  said  court  may  appoint,  whenever  said  city  or 
the  county  of  Cook  shall  provide  appropriate  rooms  therefor,  and  the  use 
of  a suitable  library,  without  expense  to  the  State.  The  judicial  divisions 
may  be  altered,  increased  or  diminished  in  number,  and  the  times  and 
places  of  holding  said  court  may  be  changed  by  law. 


§ 5.  The  present  grand  divisions  shall  be  preserved  and  be  denomi- 
nated Southern,  Central  and  Northern,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law. 
The  State  shall  be  divided  into  seven  districts  for  the  election  of  judges, 
and,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law,  they  shall  be  as  follows : 


First  District. — The  counties  of  St.  Clair;  Clinton,  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Wayne,  Edwards,  Wabash,  White,  Hamilton,  Franklin,  Perry, 
Randolph,  Monroe,  Jackson,  Williamson,  Saline,  Gallatin,  Hardin,  Pope, 
Union,  Johnson,  Alexander,  Pulaski,  and  Massac. 

Second  District. — The  counties  of  Madison,  Bond,  Marion,  Clay, 
Richland,  Lawrence,  Crawford,  Jasper,  Effingham,  Fayette,  Montgomery, 
Macoupin,  Shelby,  Cumberland,  Clark,  Greene,  Jersey,  Calhoun,  and 
Christian. 


Third  District. — The  counties  of  Sangamon,  Macon,  Logan,  De- 
Witt,  Piatt,  Douglas,  Champaign,  Vermilion,  McLean,  Livingston,  Ford, 
Iroquois,  Coles,  Edgar,  Moultrie,  and  Tazewell. 

Fourth  District. — The  counties  of  Fulton,  McDonough,  Hancock, 
Schuyler,  Brown,  Adams,  Pike,  Mason,  Menard,  Morgan,  Cass,  and 
Scott. 


20 


Fifth  District. — The  counties  of  Knox,  Warren,  Henderson,  Mercer, 
Henry,  Stark,  Peoria,  Marshall,  Putnam,  Bureau,  LaSalle,  Grundy,  and 
Woodford. 

Sixth  District. — The  counties  of  Whiteside,  Carroll,  Jo  Daviess, 
Stephenson,  Winnebago,  Boone,  McHenry,  Kane,  Kendall,  De  Kalb,  Lee, 
Ogle,  and  Rock  Island. 

Seventh  District. — The  counties  of  Lake,  Cook,  Will,  Kankakee, 
and  Du  Page. 

The  boundaries  of  the  districts  may  be  changed  at  the  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  next  preceding  the  election  for  judges  therein,  and  at 
no  other  time ; but  whenever  such  alterations  shall  be  made,  the  same 
shall  be  upon  the  rule  of  equality  of  population,  as  nearly  as  county 
boundaries  will  allow,  and  the  districts  shall  be  composed  of  contiguous 
counties,  in  as  nearly  compact  form  as  circumstances  will  permit. 
The  alteration  of  the  districts  shall  not  affect  the  tenure  of  office  of  any 
judge. 

§ 6.  At  the  time  of  voting  on  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
one  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be  elected  by  the  electors  thereof 
in  each  of  said  districts  numbered  two,  three,  six  and  seven,  who  shall 
hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  nine  years  from  the  first  Monday  of  June, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy.  The 
term  of  office  of  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  elected  after  the  adoption 
of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  nine  years ; and  on  the  first  Monday  of  June 
of  the  year  in  which  the  term  of  any  of  the  judges  in  office  at  the  adoption 
of  this  Constitution,  or  of  fhe  judges  then  elected,  shall  expire,  and  every 
nine  years  thereafter,  there  shall  be  an  election  for  the  successor  or  suc- 
cessors of  such  judges,  in  the  respective  districts  wherein  the  term  of  such 
judges  shall  expire.  The  Chief  Justice  shall  continue  to  act  as  such  until 
the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected,  after  which  the 
Judges  shall  choose  one  of  their  number  Chief  Justice. 

§ 7.  From  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  the  Judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  each  receive  a salary  of  four  thousand  dollars 
per  annum,  payable  quarterly,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law.  And 
after  said  salaries  shall  be  fixed  by  law,  fhe  salaries  of  the  Judges  in  office 
shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  terms  for  which  said 
Judges  shall  have  been  elected. 

§ 8.  Appeals  and  writs  of  error  may  be  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court, 


21 


held  in  the  grand  division  in  which  the  case  is  decided,  or,  by  consent  of 
the  parties,  to  any  other  grand  division. 

§ 9.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  appoint  one  reporter  of  its  decisions, 
who  shall  hold  his  office  for  six  years,  subject  to  removal  by  the  court. 

§ 10.  At  the  time  of  the  election  for  Representatives  in  the  General 
Assembly,  happening  next  preceding  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  office 
of  the  present  clerks  of  said  court,  one  clerk  of  said  court  for  each  division 
shall  be  elected,  whose  term  o£  office  shall  be  six  years  from  said  election, 
but  who  shall  not  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  until  the  expiration 
of  the  term  of  his  predecessor ; and  every  six  years  thereafter  one  clerk 
of  said  court  for  each  division,  shall  be  elected. 

APPELLATE  COURTS. 

§11.  After  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-four,  inferior  Appellate  Courts,  of  uniform  organization  and  juris- 
diction, may  be  created  in  districts  formed  for  that  purpose,  to  which 
such  appeals  and  writs  of  error  as  the  General  Assembly  may  provide  may 
be  prosecuted  from  Circuit  and  other  courts,  and  from  which  appeals  and 
writs  of  error  shall  lie  to  the  Supreme  Court,  in  all  criminal  cases,  and 
cases  in  which  a franchise  or  freehold  or  the  validity  of  a statute  is  involved, 
and  in  such  other  cases  as  may  be  provided  by  law.  Such  Appellate 
Courts  shall  be  held  by  such  number  of  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Courts,  and 
at  such  times  and  places,  and  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  bylaw; 
but  no  judge  shall  sit  in  review  upon  cases  decided  by  him  ; nor  shall  said 
judges  receive  any  additional  compensation  for  such  services. 

CIRCUIT  COURTS. 

§ 12.  The  Circuit  Courts  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  of  all  causes 
in  law  and  equity,  and  such  appellate  jurisdiction  as  is  or  may  be  provided 
by  law,  and  shall  hold  two  or  more  terms  each  year  in  every  county.  The 
terms  of  office  of  Judges  of  Circuit  Courts  shg.ll  be  six  years. 

§ 13.  The  State,  exclusive  of  the  county  of  Cook  and  other  counties 
having  a population  of  one  hundred  thousand,  shall  be  divided  into  judi- 
cial circuits,  prior  to  the  expiration  of  the  terms  of  office  of  the  present 
Judges  of  the  Circuit  Courts.  Such  circuits  shall  be  formed  of  contiguous 
counties,  in  as  nearly  compact  form  and  as  nearly  equal  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  having  due  regard  to  business,  territory  and  population,  and 
shall  not  exceed  in  number  one  circuit  for  every  one  hundred  thousand 


22 


of  population  in  the  State.  One  judge  shall  be  elected  for  each  of  said 
circuits  by  the  electors  thereof.  New  circuits  may  be  formed  and  the 
boundaries  of  circuits  changed  by  the  General  Assembly  at  its  session 
next  preceding  the  election  for  Circuit  Judges,  but  at  no  other  time  : 
Provided , that  the  circuits  may  be  equalized  or  changed  at  the  first  session 
of  the  General  Assembly,  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution.  The 
creation,  alteration  or  change  of  any  circuit  shall  not  affect  the  tenure  in 
office  of  any  judge.  Whenever  the  business  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  any 
one  or  of  two  or  more  contiguous  counties,  containing  a population 
exceeding  fifty  thousand,  shall  occupy  nine  months  of  the  year,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  may  make  of  such  county  or  counties  a separate  circuit. 
Whenever  additional  circuits  are  created,  the  foregoing  limitations  shall 
be  observed. 

§ 14.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the  times  of  holding 
court  in  each  county,  which  shall  not  be  changed,  except  by  the  General 
Assembly  next  preceding  the  general  election  for  judges  of  said  courts, 
but  additional  terms  may  be  provided  for  in  any  county.  The  election 
for  Judges  of  the  Circuit  Courts  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in 
June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy- 
three,  and  every  six  years  thereafter. 

§ 15.  The  General  Assembly  may  divide  the  State  into  judicial 
circuits  of  greater  population  and  territory,  in  lieu  of  the  circuits  provided 
for  in  section  thirteen  of  this  article,  and  provide  for  the  election  therein, 
severally,  by  the  electors  thereof,  by  general  ticket,  of  not  exceeding  four 
judges,  who  shall  hold  the  Circuit  Courts  in  the  circuit  for  which  they 
shall  be  elected,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

§ 16.  From  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  Judges  of 
the  Circuit  Courts  shall  receive  a salary  of  three  thousand  dollars  per 
annum,  payable  quarterly,  until  otherwise  provided  by  law.  And  after 
their  salaries  shall  be  fixed  by  law,  they  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished 
during  the  terms  for  which  said  judges  shall  be,  respectively,  elected  ; and 
from  and  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  no  judge  of  the  Supreme 
or  Circuit  Court  shall  receive  any  other  compensation,  perquisite  or  benefit, 
in  any  form  whatsoever,  nor  perform  any  other  than  judicial  duties  to 
which  may  belong  any  emoluments. 

§ 17.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  judge  of  the 
circuit  or  any  inferior  court,  or  to  membership  in  the  “Board  of  County 
Commissioners,”  unless  he  shall  be  at  least  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  a 


23 


citizen  of  the  United  States,  nor  unless  he  shall  have  resided  in  this  State 
five  years  next  preceding  his  election,  and  be  a resident  of  the  circuit, 
county,  city,  cities  or  incorporated  town  in  which  he  shall  be  elected. 

COUNTY  COURTS. 

§ 1 8.  There  shall  be  elected  in  and  for  each  county,  one  county 
judge  and  one  clerk  of  the  county  court,  whose  terms  of  office  shall 
be  four  years.  But  the  General  Assembly  may  create  districts  of  two 
or  more  contiguous  counties,  in  each  of  which  shall  be  elected  one  judge, 
who  shall  take  the  place  of  and  exercise  the  powers  and  jurisdiction  of 
county  judges  in  such  districts.  County  courts  shall  be  courts  of 
record,  and  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in  all  matters  of  probate ; 
settlement  of  estates  of  deceased  persons;  appointment  of  guardians 
and  conservators,  and  settlements  of  their  accounts ; in  all  matters 
relating  to  apprentices ; and  in  proceedings  for  the  collection  of  taxes 
and  assessments,  and  such  other  jurisdiction  as  may  be  provided  for  by 
general  law. 

§ 19.  Appeals  and  writs  of  error  shall  be  allowed  from  final 
determinations  of  County  Courts,  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

PROBATE  COURTS. 

§ 20.  The  General  Assembly  may  provide  for  the  establishment  of 
a Probate  Court  in  each  county  having  a population  of  over  fifty  thousand, 
and  for  the  election  of  a judge  thereof,  whose  term  of  office  shall  be  the 
same  as  that  of  the  county  judge,  and  who  shall  be  elected  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  manner.  Said  courts  when  established,  shall  have 
original  jurisdiction  of  all  probate  matters,  the  settlement  of  estates  of 
deceased  persons,  the  appointment  of  guardians  and  conservators  and 
settlements  of  their  accounts,  in  all  matters  relating  to  apprentices, 
and  in  cases  of  the  sales  of  real  estate  of  deceased  persons  for  the  payment 
of  debts. 

JUSTICES  OF  THE  PEACE  AND  CONSTABLES. 

§ 21.  Justices  of  the  Peace,  Police  Magistrates  and  Constables  shall 
be  elected  in  and  for  such  districts  as  are  or  may  be  provided  by  law,  and 
the  jurisdiction  of  such  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  Police  Magistrates  shall 
be  uniform. 

STATE’S  ATTORNEYS. 

§ 22.  At  the  election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  and  every 
four  years  thereafter,  there  shall  be  elected  a State’s  Attorney  in  and  for 


24 


each  county,  in  lieu  of  the  State’s  Attorneys  now  provided  bylaw,  whose 
term  of  office  shall  be  four  years. 

COURTS  OF  COOK  COUNTY. 

§ 23.  The  county  of  Cook  shall  be  one  judicial  circuit.  The  Cir- 
cuit Court  of  Cook  county  shall  consist  of  five  judges,  until  their  number 
shall  be  increased,  as  herein  provided.  The  present  Judge  of  the  Record- 
er’s Court  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  the  present  Judge  of  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Cook  county,  shall  be  two  of  said  judges,  and  shall  remain  in 
office  for  the  terms  for  which  they  were  respectively  elected,  and  until 
their  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qualified.  The  Superior  Court  of 
Chicago  shall  be  continued,  and  called  the  Superior  Court  of  Qook 
County.  The  General  Assembly  may  increase  the  number  of  said  judges, 
by  adding  one  to  either  of  said  courts  for  every  additional  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants  in  said  county,  over  and  above  a population  of  four  hundred 
thousand.  The  terms  of  office  of  the  judges  of  said  courts  hereafter 
elected  shall  be  six  years. 

§ 24.  The  judge  having  the  shortest  unexpired  term  shall  be 
Chief  Justice  of  the  court  of  which  he  is  a judge.  In  case  there  are  two  or 
more  whose  terms  expire  at  the  same  time,  it  may  be  determined  by  lot 
which  shall  be  chief  justice.  Any  judge  of  either  of  said  courts  shall 
have  all  the  powers  of  a circuit  judge,  and  may  hold  the  court  of  which 
he  is  a member.  Each  of  them  may  hold  a different  branch  thereof  at 
the  same  time. 

§ 25.  The  Judges  of  the  Superior  and  Circuit  Courts  and  the  State’s 
Attorney  in  said  county  shall  receive  the  same  salaries,  payable  out  of  the 
State  treasury,  as  is  or  may  be  paid  from  said  treasury  to  the  circuit  judges 
and  State’s  Attorneys  of  the  State,  and  such  further  compensation,  to  be 
paid  by  the  county  of  Cook,  as  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law ; such 
compensation  shall  not  be  changed  during  their  continuance  in  office. 

§ 26.  The  Recorder’s  Court  of  the  City  of  Chicago  shall  be  continued, 
and  shall  be  called  the  “ Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County.”  It  shall  have 
the  jurisdiction  of  a Circuit  Court,  in  all  cases  of  criminal  and  quasi 
criminal  nature,  arising  in  the  county  of  Cook,  or  that  may  be  brought 
before  said  court  pursuant  to  law  \ and  all  recognizances  and  appeals  taken 
in  said  county  in  criminal  and  quasi  criminal  cases  shall  be  returnable  and 
taken  to  said  court.  It  shall  have  no  jurisdiction  in  civil  cases,  except  in 
those  on  behalf  of  the  people,  and  incident  to  such  criminal  or  quasi 
criminal  matters,  and  to  dispose  of  unfinished  business.  The  terms  of 


25 


said  Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County  shall  be  held  by  one  or  more  of 
the  Judges  of  the  Circuit  or  Superior  Court  of  Cook  county,  as  nearly 
as  may  be  in  alternation,  as  may  be  determined  by  said  Judges  or  provided 
by  law.  Said  Judges  shall  be,  ex-officio , Judges  of  said  court. 

§ 27.  The  present  Clerk  of  the  Recorder’s  Court  of  the  city  of 
Chicago  shall  be  the  Clerk  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Cook  County,  during 
the  term  for  which  he  was  elected.  The  present  Clerks  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Chicago,  and  the  present  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook 
County  shall  continue  in  office  during  the  terms  for  which  they  were 
respectively  elected ; and  thereafter  there  shall  be  but  one  Clerk  of  the 
Superior  Court,  to  be  elected  by  the  qualified  electors  of  said  county, 
who  shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  four  years,  and  until  his  successor 
is  elected  and  qualified. 

§ 28.  All  Justices  of  the  Peace  in  the  City  of  Chicago  shall  be 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate  (but  only  upon  the  recommendation  of  a majority  of  the  Judges  of 
the  Circuit,  Superior  and  County  Courts),  and  for  such  districts  as  are  now 
or  shall  hereafter  be  provided  by  law.  They  shall  hold  their  offices  for 
four  years,  and  until  their  successors  have  been  commissioned  and 
qualified,  but  they  may  be  removed  by  summary  proceeding  in  the  Circuit 
or  Superior  Court  for  extortion  or  other  malfeasance.  Existing  Justices 
of  the  Peace  and  Police  Magistrates  may  hold  their  offices  until  the  ex- 
piration of  their  respective  terms. 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS. 

§ 29.  All  judicial  officers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor. 
All  laws  relating  to  courts  shall  be  general  and  of  uniform  operation ; and 
the  organization,  jurisdiction,  powers,  proceedings  and  practice  of  all 
courts,  of  the  same  class  or  grade,  so  far  as  regulated  by  law,  and  the  force 
and  effect  of  the  process,  judgments  and  decrees  of  such  courts,  severally, 
shall  be  uniform. 

§ 30.  The  General  Assembly  may,  for  cause  entered  on  the  journals, 
upon  due  notice  and  opportunity  of  defence,  remove  from  office  any 
Judge,  upon  concurrence  of  three-fourths  of  all  the  members  elected, 
of  each  House.  All  other  officers  in  this  Article  mentioned,  shall  be 
removed  from  office  on  prosecution  and  final  conviction  for  misdemeanor 
in  office. 

§ 31.  All  judges  of  courts  of  record,  inferior  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  June  of  each  year,  report  in 

4 


20 


writing  to  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  such  defects  and  omissions 
.in  the  laws  as  their  experience  may  suggest ; and  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  shall,  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  January  of  each  year, 
report  in  writing  to  the  Governor  such  defects  and  omissions  in  the 
Constitution  and  laws  as  they  may  find  to  exist,  together  with  appropriate 
forms  of  bills  to  cure  such  defects  and  omissions  in  the  laws.  And  the 
Judges  of  the  several  Circuit  Courts  shall  report  to  the  next  General 
Assembly  the  number  of  days  they  have  held  court  in  the  several  counties 
composing  their  respective  circuits  the  preceding  two  years. 

§ 32.  All  officers  provided  for  in  this  Article  shall  hold  their  offices 
until  their  successors  shall  be  qualified,  and  they  shall,  respectively,  reside 
in  the  division,  circuit,  county  or  district  for  which  they  may  be  elected 
or  appointed.  The  terms  of  office  of  all  such  officers,  where  not  other- 
wise prescribed  in  this  Article,  shall  be* four  years.  All  officers,  where/ 
not  otherwise  provided  for  in  this  Article,  shall  perform  such  duties  and 
receive  such  compensation  as  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law.  Vacancies 
in  such  elective  offices  shall  be  filled  by  election ; but  where  the  unexpired 
term  does  not  exceed  one  year,  the  vacancy  shall  be  filled  by  appoint-  v 
ment,  as  follows:  Of  Judges,  by  the  Governor;  of  clerks  of  courts,  by 
the  court  to  which  the  office  appertains,  or  by  the  judge  or  judges  thereof; 
and  of  all  such  other  offices,  by  the  board  of  supervisors  or  board  of  county 
commissioners,  in  the  county  where  the  vacancy  occurs. 

§ 33.  All  process  shall  run,  In  the  name  of  the  People  of  the  State 
of  Illinois ; and  all  prosecutions  shall  be  carried  on  In  the  name  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  conclude,  Against  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  same.  “Population,”  wherever  used  in  this  Arti- 
cle, shall  be  determined  by  the  next  preceding  census  of  this  State  or  of 
the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

SUFFRAGE. 

Section  i.  Every  person  having  resided  in  this  State  one  year,  in 
the  county  ninety  days,  and  in  the  election  district  thirty  days  next  pre- 
ceding any  election  therein,  who  was  an  elector  in  this  State  on  the  first 
day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-eight,  or  obtained  a certificate  of  naturalization  before  any  Court  of 
Record  in  this  State  prior  to  the  first  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  or  who  shall  be  a male 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  at  such  election. 


27 


§ 2.  All  votes  shall  be  by  ballot. 

§ 3.  Electors  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony  or  breach  of 
the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  elections, 
and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same.  And  no  elector  shall  be 
obliged  to  do  military  duty  on  the  days  of  election,  except  in  the  time  of 
war  or  public  danger. 

§ 4.  No  elector  shall  be  deemed  to  have  lost  his  residence  in  this 
State  by  reason  of  his  absence  on  the  business  of  the  United  States  or  of 
this  State,  or  in  the  military  or  naval  service  of  the  United  States. 

§ 5.  No  soldier,  seaman  or  marine,  in  the  army  or  navy  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  deemed  a resident  of  this  State  in  consequence  of 
being  stationed  therein. 

§ 6.  No  person  shall  be  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  in  this 
State,  civil  or  military,  who  is  not  a citizen  of  the  United  States,  and 
who  shall  not  have  resided  in  this  State  one  year  next  preceding  the  elec- 
tion or  appointment. 

§ 7.  The  General  Assembly  shall' pass  laws  excluding  from  the  right 
of  suffrage  persons  convicted  of  infamous  crimes. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

EDUCATION. 

Section  i.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  a thorough  and 
efficient  system  of  free  schools,  whereby  all  the  children  of  this  State  may 
receive  a good  common  school  education. 

§ 2.  All  lands,  moneys  or  other  property,  donated,  granted  or  re- 
ceived for  school,  college,  seminary  or  university  purposes,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds thereof,  shall  be  faithfully  applied  to  the  objects  for  which  such  gifts 
or  grants  were  made. 

§ 3.  Neither  the  General  Assembly  nor  any  county,  city,  town, 
township,  school  district,  or  other  public  corporation,  shall  ever  make 
any  appropriation  or  pay  from  any  public  fund  whatever,  anything  in  aid 
of  any  church  or  sectarian  purpose,  or  to  help  support  or  sustain  any 
school,  academy,  seminary,  college,  university  or  other  literary  or  scien- 
tific institution  controlled  by  any  church  or  sectarian  denomination  what- 
ever; nor  shall  any  grant  or  donation  of  land,  money  or  other  personal 
property  ever  be  made  by  the  State  or  any  such  public  corporation  to  any 
church  or  for  any  sectarian  purpose. 

§ 4.  No  teacher,  State,  county,  township  or  district  school  officer 
shall  be  interested  in  the  sale,  proceeds  or  profits  of  any  book,  apparatus 


28 


or  furniture,  used  or  to  be  used,  in  any  school  in  this  State,  with  which 
such  officer  or  teacher  may  be  connected,  under  such  penalties  as  may  be 
provided  by  the  General  Assembly.  ' 

§ 5.  There  may  be  a County  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  each 
county,  whose  qualifications,  powers,  duties,  compensation,  and  time  and 
manner  of  election,  and  term  of  office,  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

REVENUE, 

Section  i.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide  such  revenue  as 
may  be  needful,  by  levying  a tax,  by  valuation,  so  that  every  person  and 
corporation  shall  pay  a tax  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  his,  her  or  its 
property — such  value  to  be  ascertained  by  some  person  or  persons,  to  be 
elected  or  appointed  in  such  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  direct, 
and  not  otherwise;  but  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  tax 
pedlers,  auctioneers,  brokers,  hawkers,  merchants,  commission  merchants, 
showmen,  jugglers,  inn -keepers,  grocery  - keepers,  liquor  dealers,  toll 
bridges,  ferries,  insurance,  telegraph  and  express  interests  or  business, 
venders  of  patents,  and  persons  or  corporations,  owning  or  using  fran- 
chises and  privileges,  in  such  manner  as  it  shall,  from  time  to  time,  direct 
by  general  law,  uniform  as  to  the  class  upon  which  it  operates. 

§ 2.  The  specification  of  the  objects  and  subjects  of  taxation  shall 
not  deprive  the  General  Assembly  of  the  power  to  require  other  subjects 
or  objects  to  be  taxed,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  consistent  with  the 
principles  of  taxation  fixed  in  this  Constitution. 

§ 3.  The  property  of  the  State,  counties  and  other  municipal  cor- 
porations, both  real  and  personal,  and  such  other  property  as  may  be  used 
exclusively  for  agricultural  and  horticultural  societies,  for  schools,  religious, 
cemetery  and  charitable  purposes,  may  be  exempted  from  taxation ; but 
such  exemption  shall  be  only  by  general  law.  In  the  assessment  of  real 
estate,  incumbered  by  public  easement,  any  depreciation  occasioned  by 
such  easement  may  be  deducted  in  the  valuation  of  such  property. 

§ 4.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide,  in  all  cases  where  it  may 
be  necessary  to  sell  real  estate  for  the  non-payment  of  taxes  or  special 
assessments,  for  State,  county,  municipal  or  other  purposes,  that  a return 
of  such  unpaid  taxes  or  assessments  shall  be  made  to  some  general  officer 
of  the  county  having  authority  to  receive  State  and  county  taxes ; and 
there  shall  be  no  sale  of  the  said  property  for  any  of  said  taxes  or  assess- 


29 


ments,  but  by  said  officer,  upon  the  order  or  judgment  of  some  Court  of 
Record. 

§ 5.  The  right  of  redemption  from  all  sales  of  real  estate,  for  the 
non-payment  of  taxes  or  special  assessments  of  any  character  whatever, 
shall  exist  in  favor  of  owners  and  persons  interested  in  such  real  estate, 
for  a period  of  not  less  than  two  years  from  such  sales  thereof.  And  the 
General  Assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  for  reasonable  notice  to  be  given 
to  the  owners  or  parties  interested,  by  publication  or  otherwise,  of  the 
fact  of  the  sale  of  property  for  such  taxes  or  assessments,  and  when  the 
time  of  redemption  shall  expire  : Provided,  that  occupants  shall  in  all 
cases  be  served  with  personal  notice  before  the  time  of  redemption  expires. 

§ 6.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  release  or  dis- 
charge any  county,  city,  township,  town  or  district  whatever,  or  the 
inhabitants  thereof,  or  the  property  therein,  from  their  or  its  proportionate 
share  of  taxes  to  be  levied  for  State  purposes,  nor  shall  commutation  for 
such  taxes  be  authorized  in  any  form  whatsoever. 

§ 7.  All  taxes  levied  for  State  purposes  shall  be  paid  into  the  State 
Treasury. 

§ 8.  County  authorities  shall  never  assess  taxes,  the  aggregate  of 
which  shall  exceed  seventy-five  cents  per  one  hundred  dollars,  valuation, 
except  for  the  payment  of  indebtedness  existing  at  the  adoption  of  this 
Constitution,  unless  authorized  by  a vote  of  the  people  of  the  county. 

§ 9.  The  General  Assembly  may  vest  the  corporate  authorities  of 
cities,  towns  and  villages,  with  power  to  make  local  improvement  by 
special  assessment  or  by  special  taxation  of  contiguous  property,  or  other- 
wise. For  all  other  corporate  purposes  all  municipal  corporations  may 
be  vested  with  authority  to  assess  and  collect  taxes ; but  such  taxes  shall 
be  uniform,  in  respect  to  persons  and  property  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  body  imposing  the  same. 

§ 10.  The  General  Assembly  shall  not  impose  taxes  upon  municipal 
corporations,  or  the  inhabitants  or  property  thereof,  for  corporate  purposes ; 
but  shall  require  that  all  the  taxable  property  within  the  limits  of  munici- 
pal corporations  shall  be  taxed  for  the  payment  of  debts  contracted  under 
authority  of  law,  such  taxes  to  be  uniform  in  respect  to  persons  and 
property  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  body  imposing  the  same.  Private 
property  shall  not  be  liable  to  be  taken  or  sold  for  the  payment  of  the 
corporate  debts  of  a municipal  corporation. 

§ 11.  No  person  who  is  in  default  as  collector  or  custodian  of 
money  or  property  belonging  to  a municipal  corporation,  shall  be  eligible 


30 


to  any  office  in  or  under  such  corporation.  The  fees,  salary  or  com- 
pensation of  no  municipal  officer  who  is  elected  or  appointed  for  a 
definite  term  of  office,  shall  be  increased  or  diminished  during  such  term. 

§ 12.  No  county,  city,  township,  school  district  or  other  municipal 
corporation,  shall  be  allowed  to  become  indebted  in  any  manner  or  for 
any  purpose  to  an  amount,  including  existing  indebtedness,  in  the 
aggregate  exceeding  five  per  centum  on  the  value  of  the  taxable  property 
therein,  to  be  ascertained  by  the  last  assessment  for  State  and  county 
taxes,  previous  to  the  incurring  of  such  indebtedness.  Any  county,  city, 
school  district  or  other  municipal  corporation,  incurring  any  indebtedness 
as  aforesaid,  shall,  before  or  at  the  time  of  doing  so,  provide  for  the  collection 
of  a direct  annual  tax  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  such  debt  as  it  falls 
due,  and  also  to  pay  and  discharge  the  principal  thereof  within  twenty 
years  from  the  time  of  contracting  the  same. 

This  section  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  any  county,  city, 
township,  school  district  or  other  municipal  corporation,  from  issuing  their 
bonds  in  compliance  with  any  vote  of  the  people  which  may  have  been 
had  prior  to  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution  in  pursuance  of  any 
law  providing  therefor. 

ARTICLE  X. 

COUNTIES. 

Section  i.  No  new  county  shall  be  formed  or  established  by  the 
General  Assembly,  which  will  reduce  the  county  or  counties,  or  either 
of  them,  from  which  it  shall  be  taken,  to  less  contents  than  four  hundred 
square  miles  ; nor  shall  any  county  be  formed  of  less  contents  ; nor  shall 
any  line  thereof  pass  within  less  than  ten  miles  of  any  county  seat  of  the 
county  or  counties  proposed  to  be  divided. 

§ 2.  No  county  shall  be  divided,  or  have  any  part  stricken  therefrom, 
without  submitting  the  question  to  a vote  of  the  people  of  the  county, 
nor  unless  a majority  of  all  the  legal  voters  of  the  county  voting  on  the 
question,  shall  vote  for  the  same. 

§ 3.  There  shall  be  no  territory  stricken  from  any  county  unless  a 
majority  of  the  voters  living  in  such  territory  shall  petition  for  such 
division ; and  no  territory  shall  be  added  to  any  county  without  the 
consent  of  the  majority  of  the  voters  of  the  county  to  which  it  is 
proposed  to  be  added.  But  the  portion  so  stricken  off  and  added  to 
another  county,  or  formed  in  whole  or  in  part  into  a new  county,  shall  be 
holden  for,  and  obliged  to  pay  its  proportion  qf  the  indebtedness  of  the 
county  from  which  it  has  been  taken. 


31 


COUNTY  SEATS. 

§ 4.  No  county  seat  shall  be  removed  until  the  point  to  which  it  is 
proposed  to  be  removed  shall  be  fixed  in  pursuance  of  law,  and  a 
majority  of  the  voters  of  the  county,  to  be  ascertained  in  such  manner 
as  shall  be  provided  by  general  law,  shall  have  voted  in  favor  of  its 
removal  to  such  point ; and  no  person  shall  vote  on  such  question  who 
has  not  resided  in  the  county  six  months,  and  in  the  election  precinct 
ninety  days  next  preceding  such  election.  The  question  of  the  removal 
of  a county  seat  shall  not  be  oftener  submitted  than  once  in  ten  years,  to 
a vote  of  the  people. 

COUNTY  GOVERNMENT. 

§ 5.  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide*  by  general  law,  for 
township  organization,  under  which  any  county  may  organize  whenever 
a majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  such  county,  yoting  at  any  general 
election,  shall  so  determine ; and  whenever  any  county  shall  adopt  town- 
ship organization,  so  much  of  this  Constitution  as  provides  for  the 
management  of  the  fiscal  concerns  of  the  said  county  by  the  Board  of 
County  Commissioners  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  affairs  of  said 
county  may  be  transacted  in  such  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  may 
provide.  And  in  any  county  that  shall  have  adopted  a township 
organization,  the  question  of  continuing  the  same  may  be  submitted  to  a 
vote  of  the  electors  of  such  county  at  a general  election,  in  the  manner 
that  now  is  or  may  be  provided  by  law ; and  if  a majority  of  all  the  votes 
cast  upon  that  question  shall  be  against  township  organization,  then  such 
organization  sl\all  cease  in  said  county ; and  all  laws  in  force  in  relation 
to  counties  not  having  township  organization,  shall  immediately  take 
effect  and  be  in  force  in  such  county.  No  two  townships  shall  have 
the  same  name,  and  the  day  of  holding  the  annual  township  meeting 
shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  State. 

§ 6.  At  the  first  election  of  County  Judges  under  this  Constitution, 
there  shall  be  elected  in  each  of  the  counties  in  this  State,  not  under 
township  organization,  three  officers,  who  shall  be  styled  “The  Board  of 
County  Commissioners,”  who  shall  hold  sessions  for  the  transaction  of 
county  business  as  shall  be  provided  by  law.  One  of  said  commissioners 
shall  hold  his  office  for  one  year,  one  for  two  years,  and  one  for  three 
years,  to  be  determined  by  lot ; and  every  year  thereafter  one  such  officer 
shall  be  elected  in  each  of  said  counties  for  the  term  of  three  years. 

§ 7.  The  county  affairs  of  Cook  county  shall  be  managed  by  a Board 
of  Commissioners  of  fifteen  persons,  ten  of  whom  shall  be  elected  from 


32 


the  city  of  Chicago,  and  five  from  towns  outside  of  said  city,  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

COUNTY  OFFICERS  AND  THEIR  COMPENSATION. 

§ 8.  In  each  county  there  shall  be  elected  the  following  county 
officers  : County  Judge,  Sheriff,  County  Clerk,  Clerk  of  the  Circuit  Court, 
(who  may  be  ex-officio  Recorder  of  Deeds,  except  in  counties  having  sixty 
thousand  and  more  inhabitants,  in  which  counties  a Recorder  of  Deeds 
shall  be  elected  at  the  general  election  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,)  Treasurer,  Surveyor  and  Coro- 
ner, each  of  whom  shall  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  respectively, 
on  the  first  Monday  of  December  after  their  election  ; and  they  shall  hold 
their  respective  offices  for  the  term  of  four  years,  except  the  Treasurer, 
Sheriff  and  Coroner,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years  and  until 
their  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qualified. 

§ 9.  The  clerks  of  all  the  courts  of  record,  the  Treasurer,  Sheriff, 
Coroner  and  Recorder  of  Deeds  of  Cook  county,  shall  receive,  as  their 
only  compensation  for  their  services,  salaries  to  be  fixed  by  law,  which 
shall  in  no  case  be  as  much  as  the  lawful  compensation  of  a Judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court  of  said  county,  and  shall  be  paid,  respectively,  only  out  of 
the  fees  of  the  office  actually  collected.  All  fees,  perquisites  and  emolu- 
ments (above  the  amount  of  said  salaries)  shall  be  paid  into  the  county 
treasury.  The  number  of  the  deputies  and  assistants  of  such  officers  shall 
be  determined  by  rule  of  the  Circuit  Court,  to  be  entered  of  record,  and 
their  compensation  shall  be  determined  by  the  County  Board. 

§ 10.  The  County  Board,  except  as  provided  in  section  nine  of  this 
article,  shall  fix  the  compensation  of  all  county  officers,  with  the  amount 
of  their  necessary  clerk  hire,  stationery,  fuel  and  other  expenses,  and  in 
all  cases  where  fees  are  provided  for,  said  compensation  shall  be  paid  only 
out  of,  and  shall  in  no  instance  exceed  the  fees  actually  collected ; they 
shall  not  allow  either  of  them  more  per  annum  than  fifteen  hundred  dol- 
lars, in  counties  not  exceeding  twenty  thousand  inhabitants ; two  thousand 
dollars  in  counties  containing  twenty  thousand  and  not  exceeding  thirty 
thousand  inhabitants ; twenty-five  hundred  dollars  in  counties  containing 
thirty  thousand  and  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand  inhabitants  ; three 
thousand  dollars  in  counties  containing  fifty  thousand  and  not  exceeding 
seventy  thousand  inhabitants ; thirty-five  hundred  dollars  in  counties  con- 
taining seventy  thousand  and  not  exceeding  one  hundred  thousand  inhab- 
itants ; and  four  thousand  dollars  in  counties  containing  over  one  hundred 
thousand  and  not  exceeding  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  inhabitants; 


33 


and  not  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  additional  compensation  for  each 
additional  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants : Provided , that  the  com- 
pensation of  no  officer  shall  be  increased  or  diminished  during  his  term 
of  office.  All  fees  or  allowances  by  them  received,  in  excess  of  their 
said  compensation,  shall  be  paid  into  the  county  treasury. 

§ n.  The  fees  of  township  officers,  and  of  each  class  of  county 
officers,  shall  be  uniform  in  the  class  of  counties  to  which  they  respectively 
belong.  The  compensation  herein  provided  for  shall  apply  only  to  officers 
hereafter  elected,  but  all  fees  established  by  special  laws  shall  cease  at  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution,  and  such  officers  shall  receive  only  such 
fees  as  are  provided  by  general  law. 

§ 12.  All  laws  fixing  the  fees  of  State,  county  and  township  officers 
shall  terminate  with  the  terms,  respectively,  of  those  who  may  be  in  office 
at  the  meeting  of  the  first  General  Assembly  after  the  adoption  of  this 
Constitution ; and  the  General  Assembly  shall,  by  general  law,  uniform 
in  its  operation,  provide  for  and  regulate  the  fees  of  said  officers  and  their 
successors,  so  as  to  reduce  the  same  to  a reasonable  compensation  for  ser- 
vices actually  rendered.  But  the  General  Assembly  may,  by  general  law, 
classify  the  counties  by  population  into  not  more  than  three  classes,  and 
regulate  the  fees  according  to  class. 

This  article  shall  not  be  construed  as  depriving  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  power  to  reduce  the  fees  of  existing  officers. 

§ 13.  Every  person  who  is  elected  or  appointed  to  any  office  in  this 
State,  who  shall  be  paid  in  whole  or  in  part  by  fees,  shall  be  required  by 
law  to  make  a semi-annual  report,  under  oath,  to  some  officer  to  be  desig- 
nated by  law,  of  all  his  fees  and  emoluments. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

CORPORATIONS. 

Section  i.  No  corporation  shall  be  created  by  special  laws,  or  its 
charter  extended,  changed  or  amended,  except  those  for  charitable,  edu- 
cational, penal  or  reformatory  purposes,  which  are  to  be  and  remain  under 
the  patronage  and  control  of  the  State;  but  the  General  Assembly  shall 
provide,  by  general  laws,  for  the  organization  of  all  corporations  hereafter 
to  be  created. 

§ 2.  All  existing  charters  or  grants  of  special  or  exclusive  privi- 
leges, under  which  organization  shall  not  have  taken  place,  or  which  shall 
not  have  been  in  operation  within  ten  days  from  the  time  this  Constitu- 
tion takes  effect,  shall  thereafter  have  no  validity  or  effect  whatever. 

5 


31 


§ 3-  The  General  Assembly  shall  provide,  by  law,  that  in  all  elec- 
tions for  directors  or  managers  of  incorporated  companies,  every  stock- 
holder shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  in  person  or  by  proxy,  for  the  number 
of  shares  of  stock  owned  by  him,  for  as  many  persons  as  there  are  direc- 
tors or  managers  to  be  elected,  or  to  cumulate  said  shares,  and  give  one 
candidate  as  many  votes  as  the  number  of  directors,  multiplied  by  the 
number  of  his  shares  of  stock,  shall  equal,  or  to  distribute  them  on  the 
same  principle  among  as  many  candidates  as  he  shall  think  fit;  and  such 
directors  or  managers  shall  not  be  elected  in  cn/  other  manner. 

§ 4.  No  law  shall  be  passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  granting  the 
right  to  construct  and  operate  a Street  Railroad  within  any  city,  town,  or 
incorporated  village,  without  requiring  the  consent  of  the  local  authori- 
ties having  the  control  of  the  street  or  highway  proposed  to  be  occupied 
by  such  Street  Railroad. 

BANKS. 

§ 5.  No  State  Bank  shall  hereafter  be  created,  nor  shall  the  State 
own  or  be  liable  for  any  stock  in  any  corporation  or  joint  stock  company 
or  association  for  banking  purposes,  now  created,  or  to  be  hereafter 
created.  No  act  of  the  General  Assembly  authorizing  or  creating  cor- 
porations or  associations,  with  banking  powers,  whether  of  issue,  deposit 
or  discount,  nor  amendments  thereto,  shall  go  into  effect  or  in  any  manner 
be  in  force,  unless  the  same  shall  be  submitted  to  a vote  of  the  people  at 
the  general  election  next  succeeding  the  passage  of  the  same,  and  be  ap- 
proved by  a majority  of  all  the  votes  cast  at  such  election  for  or  against 
such  law. 

V § 6.  Every  stockholder  in  a banking  corporation  or  institution 
shall  be  individually  responsible  and  liable  to  its  creditors,  over  and 
above  the  amount  of  stock  by  him  or  her  held,  to  an  amount  equal  to  his 
or  her  respective  shares  so  held,  for  all  its  liabilities  accruing  while  he  or 
she  remains  such  stockholder. 

§ 7.  The  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  banking  institutions, 
on  their  circulation,  created  by  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall  never  be  per- 
mitted or  sanctioned.  Every  banking  association,  now  or  which  may 
hereafter  be  organized  under  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall  make  and  pub- 
lish a full  and  accurate  quarterly  statement  of  its  affairs,  (which  shall  be 
certified  to,  under  oath,  by  one  or  more  of  its  officers)  as  may  be  pro- 
vided by  law. 

§ 8.  If  a general  banking  law  shall  be  enacted,  it  shall  provide  for 
the  registry  and  countersigning,  by  an  officer  of  State,  of  all  bills  or 


paper  credit,  designed  to  circulate  as  money,  and  require  security,  to  the 
full  amount  thereof,  to  be  deposited  with  the  State  Treasurer,  in  United 
States  or  Illinois  State  Stocks,  to  be  rated  at  ten  per  cent,  below  their 
par  value;  and  in  case  of  the  depreciation  of  said  stocks  to  the  amount 
of  ten  per  cent,  below  par,  the  bank  or  banks  owning  said  stocks  shall  be 
required  to  make  up  said  deficiency,  by  depositing  additional  stocks. 
And  said  law  shall  also  provide  for  the  recording  of  the  names  of  all 
stockholders  in  such  corporations,  the  amount  of  stock  held  by  each,  the 
time  of  any  transfer  thereof,  and  to  whom  such  transfer  is  made. 

RAILROADS. 

§ 9.  Every  railroad  corporation  organized  or  doing  business  in  this 
State  under  the  laws  or  authority  thereof,  shall  have  and  maintain  a 
public  office  or  place  in  this  State  for  the  transaction  of  its  business, 
where  transfers  of  stock  shall  be  made,  and  in  which  shall  be  kept,  for 
public  inspection,  books,  in  which  shall  be  recorded  the  amount  of  capital 
stock  subscribed,  and  by  whom  ; the  names  of  the  owners  of  its  stock,  and 
the  amounts  owned  by  them  respectively ; the  amount  of  stock  paid  in 
and  by  whom ; the  transfers  of  said  stock  ; the  amount  of  its  assets  and 
liabilities,  and  the  names  and  place  of  residence  of  its  officers.  The  direc- 
tors of  every  railroad  corporation  shall  annually  make  a report,  under  oath, 
to  the  Auditor  of  Public  Accounts,  or  some  offi  er  to  be  designated  by 
law,  of  all  their  acts  and  doings,  which  report  shall  include  such  matters 
relating  to  railroads  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  And  the  General 
Assembly  shall  pass  laws  enforcing,  by  suitable  penalties,  the  provisions 
of  this  section. 

§ 10.  The  rolling  stock,  and  all  other  movable  property  belonging 
to  any  railroad  company  or  corporation  in  this  State,  shall  be  considered 
personal  property,  and  shall  be  liable  to  execution  and  sale  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  personal  property  of  individuals,  and  the  General  Assembly 
shall  pass  no  law  exempting  any  such  property  from  execution  and  sale. 

§ 11.  No  railroad  corporation  shall  consolidate  its  stock,  property 
or  franchises  with  any  other  railroad  corporation  owning  a parallel  or 
competing  line  ; and  in  no  case  shall  any  consolidation  take  place  except 
upon  public  notice  given,  of  at  least  sixty  days,  to  all  stockholders,  in 
such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law.  A majority  of  the  directors  of 
any  railroad  corporation  now  incorporated  or  hereafter  to  be  incorporated 
by  the  laws  of  this  State,  shall  be  citizens  and  residents  of  this  State. 

§ 12.  Railways  heretofore  constructed  or  that  may  hereafter  be 
constructed  in  this  State  are  hereby  declared  Public  Highways,  and  shall 


be  free  to  all  persons  for  the  transportation  of  their  persons  and  property 
thereon,  under  such  regulations  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  And  the 
General  Assembly  shall,  from  time  to  time,  pass  laws  establishing  reason- 
able maximum  rates  of  charges  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and 
freight  on  the  different  railroads  in  this  State. 

§ 13.  No  railroad  corporation  shall  issue  any  stock  or  bonds,  except 
for  money,  labor  or  property  actually  received  and  applied  to  the  pur- 
poses for  which  such  corporation  was  created  ; and  all  stock  dividends,  and 
other  fictitious  increase  of  the  capital  stock  or  indebtedness  of  any  such 
corporation,  shall  be  void.  The  capital  stock  of  no  railroad  corporation 
shall  be  increased  for  any  purpose,  except  upon  giving  sixty  days’  public 
notice,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  provided  by  law. 

§ 14.  The  exercise  of  the  power  and  the  right  of  eminent  domain 
shall  never  be  so  construed  or  abridged  as  to  prevent  the  taking,  by  the 
General  Assembly,  of  the  property  and  franchises  of  incorporated  com- 
panies already  organized,  and  subjecting  them  to  the  public  necessity  the 
same  as  of  individuals.  The  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  held  inviolate 
in  all  trials  of  claims  for  compensation,  when,  in  the  exercise  of  the  said 
right  of  eminent  domain,  any  incorporated  company  shall  be  interested 
cither  for  or  against  the  exercise  of  said  right. 

§ 15.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  laws  to  correct  abuses  and 
prevent  unjust  discrimination  and  extortion  in  the  rates  of  freight  and 
passenger  tariffs  on  the  different  railroads  in  this  State,  and  enforce  such 
laws  by  adequate  penalties  to  the  extent,  if  necessary  for  that  purpose,  of 
forfeiture  of  their  property  and  franchises. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

MILITIA. 

Section  i.  The  militia  of  the  State  of  Illinois  shall  consist  of  all 
able-bodied  male  persons,  resident  in  the  State,  between  the  ages  of  eigh- 
teen and  forty-five,  except  such  persons  as  now  are  or  hereafter  may  be 
exempted  by  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or  of  this  State. 

§ 2.  The  General  Assembly  in  providing  for  the  organization,  equip- 
ment and  discipline  of  the  militia,  shall  conform  as  nearly  as  practicable 
to  the  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 

§ 3.  All  militia  officers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor,  and 
may  hold  their  commissions  for  such  time  as  the  General  Assembly  may 
provide. 


s? 


§ 4.  The  militia  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony  or  breach 
of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  musters 
and  elections,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same. 

§ 5.  The  military  records,  banners  and  relics  of  the  State,  shall  be 
preserved  as  an  enduring  memorial  of  the  patriotism  and  valor  of  Illinois, 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  provide  by  law  for 
the  safe  keeping  of  the  same. 

§ 6.  No  person  having  conscientious  scruples  against  bearing  arms, 
shall  be  compelled  to  do  militia  duty  in  time  of  peace  : Provided , such 
person  shall  pay  an  equivalent  for  such  exemption. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

WAREHOUSES. 

Section  i . All  elevators  or  storehouses  where  grain  or  other  property 
is  stored  for  a compensation,  whether  the  property  stored  be  kept  separated 
or  not,  are  declared  to  be  public  warehouses. 

*§2.  The  owner,  lessee  or  manager  of  each  and  every  public  ware- 
house situated  in  any  town  or  city  of  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants,  shall  make  weekly  statements  under  oath,  before  some  officer 
to  be  designated  by  law,  and  keep  the  same  posted  in  some  conspicuous 
place  in  the  office  of  such  warehouse,  and  shall  also  file  a copy  for  public 
examination  in  such  place  as  shall  be  designated  by  law,  which  statement 
shall  correctly  set  forth  the  amount  and  grade  of  each  and  every  kind  of 
grain  in  such  warehouse,  together  with  such  other  property  as  may  be 
stored  therein,  and  what  warehouse  receipts  have  been  issued  and  are,  at 
the  time  of  making  such  statement,  outstanding  therefor;  and  shall,  on 
the  copy  posted  in  the  warehouse,  note  daily  such  changes  as  may  be  made 
in  the  quantity  and  grade  of  grain  in  such  warehouse ; and  the  different 
grades  of  grain  shipped  in  separate  lots,  shall  not  be  mixed  with  inferior 
or  superior  grades  without  the  consent  of  the  owner  or  consignee  thereof. 

§ 3.  The  owners  of  property  stored  in  any  warehouse,  or  holder  of 
a receipt  for  the  same,  shall  always  be  at  liberty  to  examine  such  property 
stored,  and  all  the  books  and  records  of  the  warehouse,  in  regard  to  such 
property. 

§ 4.  All  railroad  companies  and  other  common  carriers  on  railroads, 
shall  weigh  or  measure  grain  at  points  where  it  is  shipped,  and  receipt  for 
the  full  amount,  and  shall  be  responsible  for  the  delivery  of  such  amount 
to  the  owner  or  consignee  thereof,  at  the  place  of  destination. 


38 


§ 5-  All  railroad  companies  receiving  and  transporting  grain  in  bulk 
or  otherwise  shall  deliver  the  same  to  any  consignee  thereof,  or  any  eleva- 
tor or  public  warehouse  to  which  it  may  be  consigned,  provided  such  con- 
signee or  the  elevator  or  public  warehouse  can  be  reached  by  any  track 
owned,  leased  or  used,  or  which  can  be  used  by  such  railroad  compa- 
nies ; and  all  railroad  companies  shall  permit  connections  to  be  made 
with  their  track,  so  that  any  such  consignee  and  any  public  warehouse, 
coal  bank  or  coal  yard  may  be  reached  by  the  cars  on  said  railroad. 

§ 6.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly  to  pass  all  neces- 
sary laws  to  prevent  the  issue  of  false  and  fraudulent  warehouse  receipts, 
and  to  give  full  effect  to  this  Article  of  the  Constitution,  which  shall  be 
liberally  construed  so  as  to  protect  producers  and  shippers.  And  the  enu- 
meration of  the  remedies  herein  named  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny 
to  the  General  Assembly  the  power  to  prescribe  by  law  such  other  and 
further  remedies  as  may  be  found  expedient,  or  to  deprive  any  person  of 
existing  common  law  remedies. 

§ 7.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  laws  for  the  inspection  of 
grain,  for  the  protection  of  producers,  shippers  and  receivers  of  grain 
and  produce. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

AMENDMENTS  TO  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

Section  i.  Whenever  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  House 
of  the  General  Assembly  shall,  by  a vote  entered  upon  the  journals 
thereof,  concur  that  a Convention  is  necessary  to  revise,  alter  or  amend 
the  Constitution,  the  question  shall  be  submitted  to  the  electors  at  the 
next  general  election.  If  a majority  voting  at  the  election  vote  for  a 
Convention,  the  General  Assembly  shall,  at  the  next  session,  provide  for 
a Convention,  to  consist  of  double  the  number  of  members  of  the  Senate, 
to  be  elected  in  the  same  manner,  at  the  same  places,  and  in  the  same 
districts.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  in  the  act  calling  the  Convention, 
designate  the  day,  hour,  and  place  of  its  meeting,  fix  the  pay  of  its  mem- 
bers and  officers,  and  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  same,  together  with 
the  expenses  necessarily  incurred  by  the  Convention  in  the  performance 
of  its  duties.  Before  proceeding,  the  members  shall  take  an  oath  to  sup- 
port the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  to  faithfully  discharge  their  duties  as  members  of  the  Convention. 
The  qualification  of  members  shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  members  of  the 
Senate,  and  vacancies  occurring  shall  be  filled  in  the  manner  provided  for 
filling  vacancies  in  the  General  Assembly.  Said  Convention  shall  meet 


39 


within  three  months  after  such  election,  and  prepare  such  revision,  altera- 
tion or  amendments  of  the  Constitution  as  shall  be  deemed  necessary, 
which  shall  be  submitted  to  the  electors  for  their  ratification  or  rejection, 
at  an  election  appointed  by  the  Convention  for  that  purpose,  not  less  than 
two  nor  more  than  six  months  after  the  adjournment  thereof ; and  unless 
so  submitted  and  approved  by  a majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  the 
election,  no  such  revision,  alterations,  or  amendments,  shall  take  effect. 

§ 2.  Amendments  to  the  Constitution  may  be  proposed  in  either 
House  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  if  the  same  shall  be  voted  for,  by 
two-thirds  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  Houses,  such 
proposed  amendments,  together  with  the  yeas  and  nays  of  each  House 
thereon,  shall  be  entered  in  full  on  their  respective  journals,  and  said 
amendments  shall  be  submitted  to  the  electors  of  this  State  for  adoption 
or  rejection,  at  the  next  election  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly, 
in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  The  proposed  amendments 
shall  be  published  in  full  at  least  three  months  preceding  the  election, 
and  if  a majority  of  the  electors  voting  at  said  election  shall  vote  for  the 
proposed  amendments,  they  shall  become  a part  of  this  Constitution. 
But  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  propose  amendments 
to  more  than  one  Article  of  this  Constitution  at  the  same  session,  nor  to 
the  same  Article  oftener  than  once  in  four  years. 


SECTIONS  SEPARATELY  SUBMITTED. 

ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  RAILROAD. 

No  contract,  obligation  or  liability  whatever,  of  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company  to  pay  any  money  into  the  State  Treasury,  nor  any 
lien  of  the  State  upon  or  right  to  tax  property  of  said  Company,  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  charter  of  said  Company,  approved 
February  ioth,  A.  D.  1851,  shall  ever  be  released,  suspended,  modified, 
altered,  remitted  or  in  any  manner  diminished  or  impaired  by  legislative 
or  other  authority ; and  all  moneys  derived  from  said  Company  after  the 
payment  of  the  State  debt,  shall  be  appropriated  and  set  apart  for  the 
payment  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  State  Government,  and  for  no 
other  purposes  whatever. 

MINORITY  REPRESENTATION. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  consist  of  three  times  the  num- 
ber of  the  members  of  the  Senate,  and  the  term  of  office  shall  be  two 
years.  Three  Representatives  shall  be  elected  in  each  Senatorial  District 


40 


at  the  general  election  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1872,  and  every  two 
years  thereafter.  In  all  elections  of  Representatives  aforesaid,  each 
qualified  voter  may  cast  as  many  votes  for  one  candidate  as  there  are 
Representatives  to  be  elected,  or  may  distribute  the  same,  or  equal  parts 
thereof,  among  the  candidates,  as  he  shall  see  fit,  and  the  candidates 
highest  in  votes  shall  be  declared  elected. 

MUNICIPAL  SUBSCRIPTIONS  TO  RAILROAD  OR  PRIVATE  CORPORATIONS. 

No  county,  city,  town,  township,  or  other  municipality,  shall  ever 
become  subscriber  to  the  capital  stock  of  any  railroad  or  private  corpora- 
tion, or  make  donation  to,  or  loan  its  credit  in  aid  of  such  corporation: 
Provided,  however , that  the  adoption  of  this  Article  shall  not  be  construed 
as  affecting  the  right  of  any  such  municipality  to  make  such  subscriptions 
where  the  same  have  been  authorized,  under  existing  laws,  by  a vote  of 
the  people  of  such  municipalities  prior  to  such  adoption. 

CANAL. 

The  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  shall  never  be  sold  or  leased  until 
the  specific  proposition  for  the  sale  or  lease  thereof  shall  first  have  been 
submitted  to  a vote  of  the  people  of  the  State,  at  a general  election,  and 
have  been  approved  by  a majority  of  all  the  votes  polled  at  such  election. 

The  General  Assembly  shall  never  loan  the  credit  of  the  State,  or 
make  appropriations  from  the  Treasury  thereof,  in  aid  of  railroads  or 
canals : Provided,  that  any  surplus  earnings  of  any  canal  may  be  appro- 
priated for  its  enlargement  or  extension. 


SCHEDULE. 

That  no  inconvenience  may  arise  from  the  alterations  and  amend- 
ments made  in  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  to  carry  the  same  into 
complete  effect,  it  is  hereby  ordained  and  declared : 

Section  i.  That  all  laws  in  force  at  the  adoption  of  this  Constitu- 
tion, not  inconsistent  therewith,  and  all  rights,  actions,  prosecutions,  claims 
and  contracts  of  this  State,  individuals  or  bodies  corporate,  shall  continue 
to  be  as  valid  as  if  this  Constitution  had  not  been  adopted. 

§ 2.  That  all  fines,  taxes,  penalties  and  forfeitures,  due  and  owing 
to  the  State  of  Illinois  under  the  present  Constitution  and  laws,  shall  inure 
to  the  use  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illinois  under  this  Constitution. 

§ 3.  Recognizances,  bonds,  obligations,  and  all  other  instruments 
entered  into  or  executed  before  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  to  the 


41 


people  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  to  any  State  or  county  officer  or  public 
body,  shall  remain  binding  and  valid,  and  rights  and  liabilities  upon  the 
same  shall  continue;  and  all  crimes  and  misdemeanors  shall  be  tried  and 
punished  as  though  no  change  had  been  made  in  the  Constitution  of 
this  State. 

§ 4.  County  Courts,  for  the  transaction  of  county  business  in  coun- 
ties not  having  adopted  township  organization*,  shall  continue  in  exist- 
ence, and  exercise  their  present  jurisdiction  until  the  board  of  county 
commissioners  provided  in  this  Constitution,  is  organized  ip  pursuance  of 
an  act  of  the  General  Assembly;  and  the  County  Courts  in  all  other 
counties  shall  have  the  same  power  and  jurisdiction  they  now  possess, 
until  otherwise  provided  by  general  law. 

§ 5.  All  existing  courts  which  are  not  in  this  Constitution  specifi- 
cally enumerated,  shall  continue  in  existence  and  exercise  their  present 
jurisdiction  until  otherwise  provided  by  law. 

§ 6.  All  persons  now  filling  any  office  or  appointment,  shall  con- 
tinue in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  thereof,  according  to  their  respective 
commissions  or  appointments,  unless  by  this  Constitution  it  is  otherwise 
directed. 

§ 7.  On  the  day  this  Constitution  is  submitted  to  the  people  for 
ratification,  an  election  shall  be  held  for  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  i'n 
the  second,  third,  sixth  and  seventh  judicial  election  districts  designated 
in  this  Constitution,  and  for  the  election  of  three  Judges  of  the  Circuit 
Court  in  the  county  of  Cook,  as  provided  for  in  the  Article  of  this  Con- 
stitution relating  to  the  Judiciary;  at  which  election,  every  person  enti- 
tled to  vote  according  to  the  terms  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  allowed 
to  vote,  and  the  election  shall  be  otherwise  conducted,  returns  made  and 
certificates  issued,  in  accordance  with  existing  laws,  except  that  no  registry 
shall  be  required  at  said  election : Provided , that  at  said  election  in  the 
county  of  Cook  no  elector  shall  vote  for  more  than  two  candidates  for 
Circuit  Judge.  If,  upon  canvassing  the  votes  for  and  against  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  it  shall  appear  that  there  has  been  polled  a 
greater  number  of  votes  against  than  for  it,  then  no  certificates  of  election 
shall  be  issued  for  any  of  said  Supreme  or  Circuit  Judges. 

§ 8.  This  Constitution  shall  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  State 
of  Illinois  for  adoption  or  rejection,  at  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  first 

6 


42 


Saturday  in  July,  A.  D.  1870,  and  there  shall  be  separately  submitted  at 
the  same  time,  for  adoption  or  rejection, 

Sections  9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  14  and  15,  relating  to  railroads,  in  the 
Article  entitled  Corporations; 

The  Article  entitled  Counties; 

The  Article  entitled  Warehouses; 

The  question  of  requiring  a three-fifths  vote  to  remove  a county  seat ; 

The  section  relating  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad ; 

The  section  in  relation  to  Minority  Representation; 

The  secti/n  relating  to  Municipal  Subscriptions  to  Railroads  or  Pri- 
vate Corporations,  and 

The  section  ^relating  to  the  Canal. 

Every  person  entitled  to  vote  under  the  provisions  of  this  Constitu- 
tion, as  defined  in  the  Article  in  relation  to  “Suffrage,”  shall  be  entitled 
to  vote  for  the  adoption  or  rejection  of  this  Constitution,  and  for  or 
against  the  articles,  sections  and  questions  aforesaid,  separately  submitted ; 
and  the  said  qualified  electors  shall  vote  at  the  usual  places  of  voting, 
unless  otherwise  provided,  and  the  said  elections  shall  be  conducted,  and 
returns  thereof  made,  according  to  the  laws  now  in  force  regulating  gen- 
eral elections,  except  that  no  registry  shall  be  required  at  said  election : 
Provided , however , that  the  polls  shall  be  kept  open  for  the  reception  of 
ballots  until  sunset  of  said  day  of  election. 

§ 9.  The  Secretary  of  State  shall,  at  least  twenty  days  before  said 
election,  cause  to  be  delivered  to  the  county  clerk  of  each  county, 
blank  poll-books,  tally-lists,  and  forms  of  return,  and  twice  the  number 
of  properly  prepared  printed  ballots  for  the  said  election  that  there  are 
voters  in  such  county,  the  expense  whereof  shall  be  audited  and  paid  as 
other  public  printing  ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  State  is,  by  law,  required 
to  be  audited  and  paid ; and  the  several  county  clerks  shall,  at  least  five 
days  before  said  election,  cause  to  be  distributed  to  the  board  of  election, 
in  each  election  district,  in  their  respective  counties,  said  blank  poll-books, 
tally-lists,  forms  of  return,  and  tickets. 

§ 10.  At  the  said  election  the  ballots  shall  be  in  the  following  form  : 

New  Constitution  Ticket. 

For  all  the  propositions  on  this  ticket  which  are  not  cancelled  with 
ink  or  pencil ; and  against  all  which  are  so  cancelled. 

For  the  new  Constitution. 

For  the  sections  relating  to  Railroads  in  the  Article  entitled  Corpo- 
rations. 


43 


For  the  Article  entitled  Counties. 

For  the  Article  entitled  Warehouses. 

For  a three-fifths  vote  to  remove  County  Seats. 

For  the  section  relating  to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 

For  the  section  relating  to  Minority  Representation. 

For  the  section  relating  to  Municipal  Subscriptions  to  Railroads  or 
Private  Corporations. 

For  the  section  relating  to  the  Canal. 

Each  of  said  tickets  shall  be  counted  as  a vote  cast  for  each  proposi- 
tion thereon  not  cancelled  with  ink  or  pencil  and  against  each  proposition 
so  cancelled,  and  returns  thereof  shall  be  made  accordingly  by  the  Judges 
of  Election. 

§n.  The  returns  of  the  whole  vote  cast,  and  of  the  votes  for  the 
adoption  or  rejection  of  this  Constitution,  and  for  or  against  the  Articles 
and  sections  respectively  submitted,  shall  be  made  by  the  several  county 
clerks,  as  is  now  provided  by  law,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  within  twenty 
days  after  the  election ; and  the  returns  of  the  said  votes  shall,  within 
five  days  thereafter,  be  examined  and  canvassed  by  the  Auditor,  Treasurer 
and  Secretary  of  State,  or  any  two  of  them,  in  the  presence  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  proclamation  shall  be  made  by  the  Governor,  forthwith,  of  the 
result  of  the  canvass. 

§ 12.  If  it  shall  appear  that  a majority  of  the  votes  polled  are  “ for 
the  new  Constitution,”  then  so  much  of  this  Constitution  as  was  not 
separately  submitted  to  be  voted  on  by  Articles  and  Sections,  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  on  and  after  Monday,  the  8th  day 
of  August,  A.  D.  1870  ; but  if  it  shall  appear  that  a majority  of  the  votes 
polled  were  “against  the  new  Constitution,”  then  so  much  thereof  as 
was  not  separately  submitted  to  be  voted  on  by  Articles  and  Sections  shall 
be  null  and  void.  If  it  shall  appear  that  a majority  of  the  votes  polled 
are  “for  the  sections  relating  to  railroads  in  the  Article  entitled  ‘ Corpo- 
rations,’ ” sections  9,  10,  n,  12,  13,  14  and  15,  relating  to  railroads  in 
the  said  Article,  shall  be  a part  of  the  Constitution  of  this  State ; but  if 
a majority  of  said  votes  are  against  such  sections,  they  shall  be  null  and 
void.  If  a majority  of  the  votes  polled  are  “for  the  Article  entitled 
‘Counties,’  ” such  Article  shall  be  a part  of  the  Constitution  of  this  State, 
and  shall  be  substituted  for  Article  VII,  in  the  present  Constitution, 
entitled  “Counties;”  but  if  a majority  of  said  votes  are  against  such 
Article,  the  same  shall  be  null  and  void.  If  a majority  of  the  votes  polled 
are  for  the  Article  entitled  “ Warehouses,”  such  Article  shall  be  a part  of 


44 


the  Constitution  of  this  State ; but  if  a majority  of  the  votes  are  against 
said  Article,  the  same  shall  be  null  and  void.  If  a majority  of  the  votes 
polled  are  for  either  of  the  sections  separately  submitted,  relating  respect- 
ively to  the  “Illinois  Central  Railroad,”  “Minority  Representation,” 
“Municipal  Subscriptions  to  Railroads  or  Private  Corporations,”  and 
the  “Canal,”  then  such  of  said  sections  as  shall  receive  such  majority, 
shall  be  a part  of  the  Constitution  of  this  State ; but  each  of  said  sections 
so  separately  submitted,  against  which,  respectively,  there  shall  be  a 
majority  of  the  votes  polled,  shall  be  null  and  void : Provided , that  the 
section  relating  to  “Minority  Representation,”  shall  not  be  declared 
adopted  unless  the  portion  of  the  Constitution  not  separately  submitted 
to  be  voted  on  by  articles  and  sections,  shall  be  adopted  ; and  in  case 
said  section  relating  to  “Minority  Representation,”  shall  become  a por- 
tion of  the  Constitution,  it  shall  be  substituted  for  sections  7 and  8 of 
the  Legislative  Article.  If  a majority  of  the  votes  cast  at  such  election 
shall  be  for  a three-fifths  vote  to  remove  a county  seat,  then  the  words  “a 
majority  ” shall  be  stricken  out  of  section  four  of  the  Article  on  counties, 
and  the  words  “ three-fifths  ” shall  be  inserted  in  lieu  thereof;  and  the  fol- 
lowing words  shall  be  added  to  said  section,  to  wit:  “But  when  an 
attempt  is  made  to  remove  a county  seat  to  a point  nearer  to  the  centre 
of  a county,  then  a majority  vote  only  shall  be  necessary.”  If  the  fore- 
going proposition  shall  not  receive  a majority  of  the  votes,  as  aforesaid, 
then  the  same  shall  have  no  effect  whatever. 

§ 13.  Immediately  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution  the  Gov- 
ernor and  Secretary  of  State  shall  proceed  to  ascertain  and  fix  the  appor- 
tionment of  the  State  for  members  of  the  first  House  of  Representatives 
under  this  Constitution.  The  apportionment  shall  be  based  upon  the 
Federal  census  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  1870,  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and 
shall  be  made  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  rules  and  principles  announced 
in  the  article  on  the  Legislative  Department  of  this  Constitution : Provided , 
that  in  case  the  Federal  census  aforesaid  can  not  be  ascertained  prior  to 
Friday,  the  23d  day  of  September,  A.  D.  1870,  then  the  said  apportion- 
ment shall  be  based  on  the  State  census  of  the  year  of  our  Lord  1865,  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  and  principles  aforesaid.  The  Governor  shall, 
on  or  before  Wednesday,  the  28th  day  of  September,  A.  D.  1870,  make 
official  announcement  of  the  said  apportionment,  under  the  great  seal  of 
the  State;  and  100  copies  thereof,  duly  certified,  shall  be  forthwith  trans- 
mitted by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  each  county  clerk  for  distribution. 

§ 14.  The  districts  shall  be  regularly  numbered,  by  the  Secretary  of 


45 


State,  commencing  with  Alexander  county  as  No.  i,  and  proceeding  thence 
northwardly  through  the  State,  and  terminating  with  the  county  of  Cook ; 
but  no  county  shall  be  numbered  as  more  than  one  district,  except  the 
county  of  Cook,  which  shall  constitute  three  districts,  each  embracing 
the  territory  contained  in  the  now  existing  Representative  Districts  of  said 
county.  And  on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  in  November,  A.  D. 
1870,  the  members  of  the  first  House  of  Representatives  under  this  Con- 
stitution shall  be  elected  according  to  the  apportionment  fixed  and  an- 
nounced as  aforesaid,  and  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years,  and  until 
their  successors  shall  be  elected  and  qualified. 

§ 15.  The  Senate,  at  its  first  session  under  this  Constitution,  shall 
consist  of  fifty  members,  to  be  chosen  as  follows  : At  the  general  election 
held  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November,  A.  D.  1870, 
two  Senators  shall  be  elected  in  districts  where  the  term  of  Senators  ex- 
pire on  the  first  Monday  of  January,  A.  D.  1871,  or  where  there  shall  be 
a vacancy,  and  in  the  remaining  districts  one  Senator  shall  be  elected. 
Senators  so  elected  shall  hold  their  office  two  years. 

§ 16.  The  General  Assembly,  at  ift  first  session  held  after  the  adop- 
tion of  this  Constitution,  shall  proceed  to  apportion  the  State  for  members 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Article  on  the  Legislative  Department. 

§ 17.  When  this  Constitution  shall  be  ratified  by  the  people,  the 
Governor  shall  forthwith,  after  having  ascertained  the  fact,  issue  writs  of 
election  to  the  sheriffs  of  the  several  counties  of  this  State,  or  in  case  of 
vacancies,  to  the  coroners,  for  the  election  of  all  the  officers,  the  time  of 
whose  election  is  fixed  by  this  Constitution  or  schedule,  and  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  said  sheriffs  or  coroners  to  give  such  notice  of  the  time 
and  place  of  said  election  as  is  now  prescribed  by  law. 

§ 18.  All  laws  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  all  official  writings,  and 
the  Executive,  Legislative  and  Judicial  proceedings,  shall  be  conducted, 
preserved  and  published  in  no  other  than  the  English  language. 

§ 19.  The  General  Assembly  shall  pass  all  laws  necessary  to  carry 
into  effect  the  provisions  of  this  Constitution. 

§ 20.  The  Circuit  Clerks  of  the  different  counties  having  a popula- 
tion over  sixty  thousand,  shall  continue  to  be  Recorders  ( ex  officio)  for 
their  respective  counties,  under  this  Constitution,  until  the  expiration  of 
their  respective  terms. 

7 


46 


§ 21.  The  Judges  of  all  Courts  of  Record  in  Cook  county  shall,  in 
lieu  of  any  salary  provided  for  in  this  Constitution,  receive  the  compen- 
sation now  provided  by  law  until  the  adjournment  of  the  first  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution. 

§ 22.  The  present  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  county  shall 
continue  to  hold  the  Circuit  Court  of  Lake  county  until  otherwise  pro- 
vided by  law. 

§ 23.  When  this  Constitution  shall  be  adopted,  and  take  effect  as 
the  supreme  law  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  the  two-mill  tax  provided  to  be 
annually  assessed  and  collected  upon  each  dollar’s  worth  of  taxable  prop- 
erty, in  addition  to  all  other  taxes,  as  set  forth  in  Article  15  of  the  now 
existing  Constitution,  shall  cease  to  be  assessed  after  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1870. 

§ 24.  Nothing  contained  in  this  Constitution  shall  be  so  construed 
as  to  deprive  the  General  Assembly  of  power  to  authorize  the  city  of 
Quincy  to  create  any  indebtedness  for  railroad  or  municipal  purposes  for 
which  the  people  of  said  city  shall  have  voted,  and  to  which  they  shall 
have  given,  by  such  vote,  their  assent  prior  to  the  13th  day  of  December, 
A.  D.  1869 : Provided,  that  no  such  indebtedness,  so  created,  shall  in  any 
part  thereof  be  paid  by  the  State,  or  from  any  State  revenue,  tax  or  fund, 
but  the  same  shall  be  paid,  if  at  all,  by  the  said  city  of  Quincy  alone,  and 
by  taxes  to  be  levied  upon  the  taxable  property  thereof : And  provided, 
further,  that  the  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  in  the  premises 
that  it  could  not  exercise  under  the  present  Constitution  of  this  State. 

§ 25.  In  case  this  Constitution  and  the  Articles  and  Sections  sepa- 
rately submitted,  be  adopted,  the  existing  Constitution  shall  cease  in  all 
its  provisions;  and  in  case  this  Constitution  be  adopted,  and  any  one  or 
more  of  the  articles  or  sections  submitted  separately,  be  defeated,  the  pro- 
visions of  the  existing  Constitution,  if  any,  on  the  same  subject,  shall  re- 
main in  force. 

§ 26.  The  provisions  of  this  Constitution  required  to  be  executed 
prior  to  the  adoption  or  rejection  thereof,  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force 
immediately. 

Done  in  Convention,  at  the  Capitol,  in  the  city  of  Springfield,  on 
the  13th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one'thousand  eight  hundred 
and  seventy,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America 
the  ninety-fourth. 


JUST  READY. 


Essays  on  Political  Economy 

BY  THE  LATE 

M.  FREDERIC  B ASTI  AT, 

Member  of  the  Institute  of  France . 

Part  I — Sophisms  of  Protection — First  Series. 

Part  II — Sophisms  of  Protection — Second  Series. 

Part  III — Spoliation  and  Law. 

Part  IV — Capital  and  Interest. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  PARIS  EDITION  OF  1 863. 


The  publishers  of  this  translation  from  the  works  of  the  late  M.  Bastiat  believe  that  the  time  has 
come  when  the  reading  public  are  prepared  to  give  a more  thoughtful  attention  to  the  discussion  of 
economical  questions  than  they  were  able  to  give  during  the  war,  and  the  subsequent  struggle  on  Recon- 
struction. 

The  organization  of  leagues  in  various  parts  of  the  country  having  for  their  object  the  promotion 
of  economical  science,  and  the  readjustment  of  our  system  of  taxation  ; the  numerous  public  meetings 
and  conventions  now  holding  both  East  and  West,  and  the  increasing  public  interest  in  the  question  of 
Protection  and  Free  Trade,  manifested  by  the  protracted  session  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means 
of  the  National  House  of  Representatives  during  the  present  summer  vacation  are  evidences  of  a de- 
mand for  information  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  publication,  in  part,  to  supply. 

Among  the  advocates  of  commercial  freedom,  no  writer  holds  a higher  place  than  Bastiat.  His 
Sophismes  Economiques  are  probably  the  most  exact  7-eductio  ad  absurdum  that  has  ever  been  applied 
to  the  fallacies  of  Protection  in  any  language. 

This  volume  is  the  first  complete  English  translation  of  these  essays  that  has  been  given  to  the 
public.  Three-fourths  of  the  volume  consists  of  the  Sophisms ; the  remainder  is  made  up  of  Bastiat’s 
Essays  on  “ Spoliation  and  Law,”  and  “ Capital  and  Interest.”  The  latter  will  be  found  a very  timely 
answer  to  the  arguments  which  are  rife  in  certain  quarters,  implying  that  interest  for  the  use  of  capital 
is  a species  of  injustice  and  oppression  upon  labor. 

The  translation  is  accompanied  by  an  original  preface  by  Horace  White,  Esq.,  Editor  of  the 
Chicago  Tribune. 

The  book  is  printed  on  tinted  paper,  and  makes  a i2mo.  volume  of  over  400  pages.  Price,  $2.60. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  free  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price  by  the  Publishers. 


Letters  of  Peregrine  Pickle. 

BY 

GEORGE  P.  UPTON. 


“ This , That,  and  the  Other." 


The  contents  of  this  book  originally  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  “ Chicago  Tribune,”  in  the  form 
of  weekly  letters,  over  the  nom  de  plume  of  “ Peregrine  Pickle,”  devoted  to  matters  of  gossip  and 
interest  in  the  great  world  of  amusement.  Necessarily,  much  of  their  matter  was  of  an  ephemeral 
nature,  which  perished  with  publication.  Many  of  the  letters  were  also  devoted  to  topics  of  a purely 
local  and  temporary  character,  which,  at  this  distant  date,  would  possess  no  interest.  The  writer, 
therefore,  has  taken  care  to  preserve  only  such  parts  of  them  as  have  a general  bearing,  and  has  ar- 
ranged them  under  appropriate  heads,  with  dates  at  the  end  of  each,  as  a matter  of  convenience  and 
reference. 

These  letters  were  commenced  in  the  early  part  of  the  winter  of  1866-7,  and  have,  therefore, 
reached  the  very  respectable  age  of  nearly  three  years.  During  that  time,  in  order  to  maintain  the  in- 
terest which  has  attached  to  them,  the  writer  has  widely  varied  their  character,  so  that  they  embrace  a 
large  range  of  subjects — grave,  gay,  gossipy,  sentimental  and  serious — “ this,  that,  and  the  other.” 

The  author  of  these  letters  is  George  P.  Upton,  for  many  years  the  Literary  Editor  and  Dramatic 
Musical  Critic  of  the  ‘‘Tribune.” 

1 vol.  i2mo.  nearly  500  pp.,  tinted  paper,  and  bound  in  bevelled  boards.  Price,  $2.00. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers,  or  sent  free  by  mail  on  receipt  of  price  by  the  Publishers. 

THE  WESTERN  NEWS  COMPANY. 

1 21  and  123  State  Street,  Chicago. 


